Thai police have denied issuing arrest warrants for individuals who had purportedly met with former PetroSaudi International director Xavier Andre Justo.

"No, no arrest warrant, because it (the alleged meetings) happened in Singapore," Thai police spokesperson major general Prawut Thavornsiri told Malaysiakini when contacted.

He was asked to respond to rumours circulated in Malaysia that arrest warrants for the individuals have been issued.

This was after Thai police on Thursday revealed at least 10 individuals had met with Justo to possibly buy information from him.

Police did not reveal their identities but said they include a media tycoon, an opposition politician as well as a member of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's own party, Umno.

The Thai authorities are probing Justo for allegedly attempting to blackmail PetroSaudi  for 2.5 million Swiss francs, over information that he is accused of stealing from his former employer.

The investigations revealed Justo had allegedly attempted to sell the information to third parties after the blackmail attempt failed.

'US$2 mil price tag'

Prawut told Malaysiakini that the offer to purchase information from Justo went up to US$ 2 million.

"Inside the contract, it said two million, in US dollars," he said.

However, Prawut said it is unclear if the transactions actually took place.

Rumour that Thai police will issue arrest warrants against those said to have met Justo have been circulating on social media since yesterday.

The rumour appears to have started from blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, who cited unnamed "deep throat" sources in the Royal Thai Police.

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