Dhammakaya police bribe scandal shakes DSI
Romantically involved DSI officers accused of taking 40 million baht 'commission' on land seized, returned to embezzler then sold & pocketed by him.
Romantically involved DSI officers accused of taking 40 million baht 'commission' on land seized, returned to embezzler then sold & pocketed by him.
POLICE MISCONDUCT & DHAMMAKAYA SCANDAL
Dhammakaya police bribe scandal shakes DSI
DSI suspends 2 top officers over bribe
17/11/2016
King-oua Laohong
Two senior officers of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) have been suspended from duty for allegedly taking a bribe of up to 40 million baht in connection with the Klongchan Credit Union embezzlement case.
The two DSI officers are accused of receiving 40 million baht from Supachai Srisupa-akson, the former credit union chairman, now serving a long prison sentence for embezzlement of the failed credit union's funds.
An investigation into the money trail behind the scandal showed that the two officers had received the money in an indirect manner from land that was seized, then returned and thensold by the embezzler.
One strange twist to the case is that the two accused DSI officers are a couple, romantically involved.
It is worth noting, that a "credit union" operates much like an ordinary bank but instead the people who keep money in bank accounts at the credit union, called "members", are the owners of the credit union (also called "depositors" who "deposit" their money at the financial institution).
Bank failures are serious affairs that can undermine and weaken a whole economy, likewise the embezzlement of funds that led to this credit union's failure is also a serious affair. It is more than just a "scandal".
LAND BOUGHT WITH EMBEZZLED MONEY SEIZED, RETURNED, SOLD, MONEY DISAPPEARS
The two suspects have been implicated previously in a case involving the sale of the credit union's land in Nakhon Ratchasima province to Phitsanulok Ethanol Co.
The 1,822 rai of land was reportedly bought by Supachai using the credit union's embezzled money and the DSI later confiscated the land.
In 2013, a joint committee set up to protect the rights of people who had deposited their money at the failed credit union ordered Supachai to sell the land so the money could be returned to the victims.
However, according to investigators, the two DSI officers allegedly colluded to terminate the seizure of the land.
CREDIT UNION EMBEZZLER PUTS MONEY INTO PERSONAL BANK ACCOUNT
So Supachai reclaimed ownership of the land and sold it for about 477 million baht to a company.
However, only 100 million baht from the land sale was returned to the credit union and the rest was transferred into Supachai the embezzler's personal accounts.
'COMMISSION FEE' FOUND IN DSI OFFICERS' BANK ACCOUNTS
Supachai later claimed he paid a 60-million-baht commission fee for selling the land.
Investigators found that up to 40 million baht of the sum went to bank accounts related to the two DSI officers.
VICTIMS WANT DHAMMAKAYA HEAD BROUGHT TO JUSTICE
A letter to the DSI submitted Wednesday by the lawyer of credit union scandal victims asked the DSI to speed up the investigation and quickly bring Phra Dhammajayo to justice.
The case involves Wat Phra Dhammakaya in Pathum Thani province, which received more than 800 cheques claimed to be donations by Supachai.
Supachai faces several cases in connection with the multi-million-baht embezzlement at the credit union and is already serving a long prison term.
In one of the cases, Supachai and Phra Dhammajayo, the abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya, are among five people charged with money laundering and receiving stolen property.
CASE DELAY: DSI MUST QUESTION MORE WITNESSES SAYS PROSECUTOR
The Office of the Attorney-General (OAG), the prosecutor in the case, on Nov 7 postponed a decision on an indictment in the Dhammakaya case, saying it had not received a DSI report on the questioning of several additional witnesses.
The decision was rescheduled to Nov 30.
Pol Lt Col Pakorn Sucheevakul, chief of the financial and banking case office, said the DSI had already complied with the OAG's orders to question witnesses five times.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/1137069/dsi-suspends-2-top-officers-over-bribe
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