Authorities in Thailand dropped all charges against the Red Bull co-founder’s playboy grandson, whose Ferrari fatally hit a police officer on a motorcycle on a Bangkok street in 2012.
Vorayuth Yoovidhaya’s leaking engine oil, which was damaged by hitting the officer’s motorcycle, brought investigators to his door after he fled the scene of the accident.
Vorayuth, whose family is among the wealthiest in Thailand, admitted to being drunk when he hit the officer, but was not immediately arrested and then paid the family of the dead officer nearly $ 100,000.
During the long, albeit lethargic, investigation, which resulted in the charges of speeding, running over, and reckless driving, he fled the country, the New York Times reported. The heir to the energy drink fortune also ignored all police questions, summons and subpoenas. Those charges have now been dropped due to statutes of limitations.
Despite being listed as wanted in an Interpol arrest warrant, the wealthy playboy traveled the world on private Red Bull-owned jets, openly stayed in luxurious hotels, and even kept a house and a Porsche in London for when he visited them.
Then suddenly, last month, the case was closed, although the announcement wasn’t made until this week, according to the Times. Lt. Col. Thanawut Sanguansuk insists that all protocols were followed to drop the investigation and has invited Vorayuth to return home without fear of arrest. “Therefore, this case is resolved according to the legal process,” the investigator wrote in a letter seen by the Times.
The Vorayuth family is reported to own half of the Red Bull empire; Forbes He has estimated his wealth at around $ 20.2 billion.
Relatives of the dead motorcycle cop said they expected the result, and told a reporter in 2013 that the Red Bull heir is “powerful, has many connections, and a lot of money.”
The family member went on to say, “If they are ordinary people like us, I think the case is already over.”
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