Ex-wife of British ASOS founder says ‘I did not homicide him’ after he fell from the balcony of his luxurious Thailand condo
The ex-wife of the co-founder of Asos said she did not murder him after he fell to his death from a building in Thailand.
Quentin Griffiths, 58, reportedly plunged from an 18-floor complex in Pattaya, a seaside city south of Bangkok, on February 9.
The tragedy came amid an alleged ongoing dispute with his Thai ex-wife, who accused him of fraudulently selling land and shares worth £500,000 belonging to a company they operated together.
But Ploy Kringsinthanakun, 43, today said she played no role in his death, which occurred just days before their next scheduled court appearance.
She told The Sun: ‘I had absolutely nothing to do with his death. How could I kill him? How would I know anything about it? I live in Bangkok – I wasn’t in Pattaya.’
Last January, the British national was reportedly arrested at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport and questioned by detectives after Kringsinthanakun alleged he had forged documents to sell land and shares in the business without her knowledge.
Griffiths denied the allegations and insisted every business transaction was done lawfully. He was released after questioning but the investigation was continuing at the time of his death, according to reports.
Court papers seen by the newspaper showed that he was accused of committing ‘many offences against the law’.
Ploy Kringsinthanakun, 43, today said she played no role in Quentin Griffiths’ death, which occurred just days before their next scheduled court appearance
The online fashion retailer said Quentin Griffiths, 58, ‘played an important role’ in the company’s earliest days, and it will be ‘forever grateful for his contribution’
These included ‘reporting a false message’ to police and falsely claiming a land deed was lost.
Kringsinthanakun told the newspaper that she and her ex-husband had not been in contact for four years and eight months after she discovered he had been unfaithful.
‘I only learned about his death when his lawyer called both me and my lawyer to arrange a negotiation regarding the case,’ she said.
‘Of course I am sad about his death, he is the father of my children, so I am worried about them and what they are going through’.
She said she found out about his death from his lawyer, and in a state of shock, checked local Pattaya news but found nothing.
The millionaire’s ex-wife voiced suspicions around the fact that there had been no coverage of the death in Thailand and claimed he had stopped her from seeing their children for almost five years.
Emergency services found the millionaire’s body on the ground below his balcony, and according to reports, he was wearing no shoes.
Mr Griffiths was on his own, with his room locked from the inside, and there was no evidence of a break-in at the time of his death, police told the BBC.
When officers arrived at Griffiths’ condo they found two opened bottles of wine and a bottle of water.
A police source said: ‘Officers arrived at the scene and it was confirmed that Quentin was dead. An ambulance took his body to the hospital for a post-mortem examination.
Emergency services are said to have found the millionaire’s body on the ground below his balcony
‘The CCTV inside the building was checked. The only person who went into the room was Quentin, so we do not believe there was anything suspicious.’
A post-mortem examination did not reveal any evidence of foul play.
The online fashion retailer said Mr Griffiths ‘played an important role’ in the company’s earliest days, and it will be ‘forever grateful for his contribution’.
In a statement, the company said: ‘We’re saddened to hear about the passing of Quentin, one of our original co-founders.
‘He played an important role in Asos’s earliest days, and we’re forever grateful for his contribution.
‘Our thoughts are with his family and friends.’
Griffiths helped launch Asos in 2000 alongside Nick Robertson and Andrew Regan, and remained there until 2005.
The company grew into a £3billion global retailer, with the Princess of Wales and Michelle Obama among those to have worn its own-label designs.
A former advertising executive, he stepped down as marketing director after four years.
He later made £15million from share sales in 2010 and received a further stock windfall in 2013.
He later sued his accountants at BDO, saying he had been given the wrong advice on how to avoid tax on the sale.
The bungled advice, he claimed, ended up costing him more than £4million in tax on the sales of more than £10million of shares in Asos and Achica, an online retailer he also co-founded.
The father of three then moved to Thailand around 2007.
After divorcing his first wife, he married a Thai woman and had a son and a daughter. The couple separated several years ago.
A FCDO Spokesperson told the Daily Mail: ‘We are supporting the family of a British national who has died in Thailand and are in contact with the local authorities.’
