The prime suspect in yesterday's corruption scandal, Pongpat Chayaphan, former head of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), was known within the police force as a highly skilled and experienced detective who used behavioral data in his work.
Not a stupid boy either: he was educated at the military and police academy, obtained a master's degree in political science from Chulalongkorn University and took numerous courses at home and abroad.
Bangkok Post today devotes the entire front page to the scandal that we already described in broad outline in yesterday's message Large-scale corruption: Eight senior police officers arrested. It concerns a total of twelve people: seven high-ranking police officers and five civilians. Ten were arrested on Sunday, one reported voluntarily and one is still a fugitive. During raids on six homes owned by Pongpat and his deputy chief, police found billions of baht in assets.
Pongpat, the former chief of the Marine Police Division and the man who recently committed suicide and whose body was hastily cremated, is accused of asking officers 3 to 5 million baht for promotions. In total, they pocketed 50 billion baht.
The suspects are charged with a laundry list of crimes, such as lèse majeste, extortion, exploitation of illegal gambling, collecting bribes from petrol smuggling gangs, crimes of office, extortion, deforestation, land squatting (encroachment) and possession of the carcasses of protected animals.
One civilian suspect was deputy principal of a school in Nonthaburi. He and his wife are charged with extortion.
The case is being handled by the Bangkok Municipal Police. The Department of Special Investigation (DSI, the Thai FBI) and the Anti-Money Laundering Office have been ordered by the Justice Minister to study the case in support of the police. The DSI may take over the case.
All suspects are in custody. The court denied release on bail yesterday. All but one of the police suspects have been suspended. [Yesterday the newspaper wrote fired.]
(Source: bangkok mail, Nov. 25, 2014)
Photos: Pongpat, in a white shirt, leaves the court under police escort who refused bail and authorized a XNUMX-day pretrial detention.
Let's hope that the release on bail of all these suspects will also be refused in the coming weeks. Of course it would be crazy that the bail is paid with the money obtained through crime.
In addition, there is a danger that the alleged criminals will escape to a friendly foreign country.
The late Mr. Akkrawut probably also had something to do with the crimes, the newspaper reports. You don't have to be Agent 007 to have any doubts about Mr Akkrawut's curiously quick cremation after his alleged suicide. There are rumors (in top circles in this country) that not his dead body but another corpse was cremated and that Akkrawut has long since (literally and figuratively) flown.
Curious. Thai PBs English reported last night that four suspects, including Pongpat, Kowit and Boonsueb, were released on bail Monday afternoon, despite the former two also facing lèse majesté charges.
Anyone who thinks that this is only about corruption and other crimes should realize that the background of this case has a political color that extends to the highest level.
The Bangkok Post reports that the suspects have said that the money obtained through blackmail (in the oil circuit in the south) was intended for the royal family. Of course you can't say that with impunity in this country.