California Wow founder sues Thai government

Eric Mark Levine, the founder of California Fitness clubs worldwide and the Thai chain California Wow Xperience has filed a US$2.8 million defamation lawsuit through his legal representative at Bangkok Criminal Court.

Levine has filed suit against Thailand’s Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO), as well as its secretary-general Police Colonel Sihanart Prayoonrat, for damaging Levine’s reputation through public remarks made by the Police Colonel alleging improper payments and fund transfers by Levine.

As CEO of California Wow, Levine said the Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand (SEC) has already investigated the chain’s operations and financial records with specialist forensic accounting investigators as well as specially trained police officers.

“All  publicly stated there is no evidence of wrongdoing or of any action to substantiate the Anti-Money Laundering Office’s allegations,” Levine said in a statement.

He added that the Department of Special Investigation has also refused to conduct any further investigation as requested by Police Colonel Prayoonrat and the AMLO.

Levine said he and all involved in the management of California Wow had given their “full cooperation to authorities” during the investigations which had cleared them of the AMLO’s allegations.

Levine added that internationally recognised auditing firms like Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Jaiyos and PriceWaterhouseCooper have confirmed the accounts and transactions of California Wow to be correct and without irregularity.

“And… far from taking money out of the company, I had injected personal funds to support the operations of the company in its final days.”