Oops! Officials request extradition for Red Bull heir but left some paperwork blank
Officials say they are going ahead with extradition of Red Bull heir Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya, who allegedly hit and killed a policeman with his car in 2012 and has avoided authorities ever since, but when prosecutors finally got the police request Thursday, they could not move forward since the country for him to be extradited from was left blank.
This is only the latest delay after another recent pause in the move toward extradition related to a translation abnormality.
Amnat Chotchai, foreign affairs head for the Attorney General’s office, said Thursday that the form was incomplete.
“The document does not specify the country so we can’t proceed. Once the police tell us where he lives, we’ll contact that country if it has an extradition agreement with Thailand. If it doesn’t, there are other channels to bring him back,” he said. The problem may be that police don’t seem to know where the jet-setting heir is living.
Though he’s stayed mainly off the radar for the last five years, he continues to live a pampered, hi-so existence and occasionally pops up on social media.
Amnat went on to say, “We have prepared everything except filling in the country name. Once the police give us the name, we can proceed.”
Any further delays may be that Vorayuth can’t be prosecuted one of the more minor charges, “failing to help a crash victim,” since the statute of limitations for that charge expires in a few weeks on Sept. 3.
The heir has already evaded police long enough to see the statute of limitations expire on several of the charges pending against him, including speeding.
However, the most major charge against him, “reckless driving causing death” can be prosecuted for 15 years, so until 2027.
Before dawn on Sept 3, 2012, a black Ferrari driven by Vorayuth slammed into a policeman on motorcycle, dragging his mangled body along Sukhumvit Road, before speeding away.
He had delayed hearing the charges seven times, citing various reasons. It was not until April 27 this year that the prosecutors finally charged him with reckless driving causing death and failing to help a crash victim.
The government already canceled his passport after he flew out of Thailand on his private plane two days before he was due to face the charges.
