Businessman convicted of selling fake bomb detectors
BANGkok: A court in Thailand has convicted a local businessman of fraud for selling fake bomb detectors to the Thai government, five years after the head of the British supplier was sent to prison over the global scandal.
Thailand’s military drew criticism and ridicule in 2010 when the GT200 bomb detectors – which were claimed to also be capable of detecting drugs and other substances – were exposed as worthless pseudo-scientific instruments.
The devices were sold to the Thai army and other security forces around the world.
Even after they were proven useless, they were used for a time in several countries, including hot spots such as Iraq and southern Thailand, where there is an active Muslim insurgency.
The devices also carried high and variable prices, raising suspicions of corruption in their purchases.
Thailand’s technology ministry had found in 2010 that the devices had a successful detection rate of only 20%.
Nevertheless, then-army commander Gen Anupong Paochinda – the interior minister in the current military government – denied any corruption and lauded the device’s various “successes”.
Thailand had bought more than 700 of the detectors starting in 2004 at a total cost of about US$21mil (RM86.86mil).
The current defence minister, Prawit Wongsuwan, defended the military’s handling of the affair, telling reporters the devices had been tested and found working at the time of purchase, so there had been no wrongdoing by the military.
Ministry spokesman Kongcheep Tantravanich said Thai authorities had stopped using the GT200 devices “ever since foreign governments proved that they are ineffective” and that various military depart- ments are gradually suing companies that sold them.
Sutthiwat Wathanakij, manager of AVIA Satcom Co Ltd, on Wednesday was convicted of fraud for three GT200 sales contracts and sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment.