“I’m going full steam ahead with the suit against the Anti-Money Laundering Office [AMLO] and its former secretary-general Sihanart Prayoonrat,” said Eric Levine, founder of California Fitness clubs and its branch here, CAWOW.

“It should be a lesson to AMLO and its officers not to make false and damaging public statements about citizens. It will reaffirm to them that citizens are presumed innocent until proven guilty, and that it is only a court of law that can pass judgement.”

Sihanart is now an adviser to the AMLO.

In a recent hearing at the Criminal Court in Bangkok for a lawsuit filed by Levine for Bt100 million against AMLO and its officers for defamation, AMLO did a surprise about-face on its position in regard to public remarks made by Sihanart, alleging improper payments and fund transfers at the firm.

AMLO representatives admitted to the court that they accept the findings of specialist forensic investigators from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), who reported that they had not found any evidence of wrongdoing by CAWOW or its top executives, according to a statement Levine sent to the media.

The representatives also accepted the audits of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Jaiyos and PriceWaterhouse Coopers, which had confirmed the transactions of CAWOW to be correct and without irregularity, the statement said.

Levine said: “The former secretary-general’s unsubstantiated remarks at a press conference about my personal and professional affairs were extremely damaging to me, affecting my reputation and my worldwide business.

“He had the evidence from the SEC as well as audits of globally reputable firms. He had also been told by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) that they would not conduct any further investigation of CAWOW, as had been requested. And yet, he called a press conference to make the allegations,” Levine said.

He said he and CAWOW officers had offered full cooperation for any investigation, but despite the allegations, AMLO had never contacted him, or any CAWOW directors, or the company’s chief financial officer in the four years since the allegations were made.

Meanwhile, DSI Special Case Administration Centre director Woranan Srilam confirmed that the agency ended their probe into CAWOW in 2013 after investigators did not find factors indicating public fraud or a pyramid scheme. He said the investigation found the firm had operated real business but its outcome was not good and it had reduced its branches.

As of press time, the AMLO could not be reached for comment on this matter.