Fugitive Thai millionaire protests his innocence

Bangkok

A FUGITIVE Thai millionaire wanted on charges including royal defamation broke cover to protest his innocence on Sunday in a graft probe that has seen relatives of the crown prince's wife arrested.

Nopporn Suppipat denied police accusations that he helped orchestrate the kidnapping of a man who owed him money, and said that he fled to Cambodia on Nov 30 after discovering he would be charged under Thailand's draconian lese majeste law. "I knew '112' would mean I wouldn't get bail . . . I couldn't take that risk," the 43-year-old told AFP from an undisclosed location early Sunday.