Supoj jailed for 10 months in asset case
Cash stashed in the house was not ‘dowry’
A former permanent secretary of the Transport Ministry found unusually rich after his house was burgled seven years ago has been sent to prison for 10 months for filing false asset declarations, after losing his appeal.
Supoj Saplom, 65, was taken to Bangkok Remand Prison yesterday after a judicial appeal panel of the Supreme Court for politicians and state officials upheld an earlier court ruling.
The court ruled that as a high-ranking official, Supoj had not set a good example for others when he failed to declare assets worth over 20 million baht.
“The fact that he committed such an offence is serious. His submission that he had no prior criminal record and had served the country well was not enough to warrant a suspension,” the panel said.
In late September of last year, a ninemember judicial panel had found him guilty on five counts and sentenced him to two months in prison for each count.
He was also banned from holding public office for five years starting on May 18, 2012, the day he was relieved from duty as permanent secretary at the ministry.
The offence is punishable under Section 119 of the National Anti-Corruption Commission Act (NACC).
In 2012, the NACC had accused him of deliberately filing false asset declarations after finding him to be unusually rich.
The case involved items which had been unaccounted in his possession — 17.5 million baht in cash and a Volkswagen van — totalling 20.5 million baht.
The magnitude of his wealth was accidentally revealed in November 2011, when thieves broke into his house on Lat Phrao Soi 24 in Bangkok. They were later caught and told police they found millions of baht in cash inside the house. Supoj could not satisfactorily explain where it came from.
He argued the cash and Volkswagen were not his. He said the van belonged to Anake Jongsathien, a plastic foodwrap businessman. He returned the vehicle to Mr Anake, who later donated it to a temple.
Regarding the 17.5 million baht in cash, which became evidence in the burglary case, Supoj said he had filed a complaint with police that only 5 million baht was stolen. The amount was a dowry which the family received for his daughter’s hand. She was wed on the night of the robbery. He had given the money to the couple, so it did not need to be declared, he claimed.
The first court believed the thieves, who said they stole a lot of cash stashed in the house, not the dowry.
It also found implausible the explanation from Supoj’s wife that the van was given to her as compensation for teaching children and helping spread Buddhism. It found the time she spent doing the work was short and did not warrant the reward of a 3-million baht van. Besides, there was evidence of Mr Anake giving money to Supoj’s wife when buying the vehicle.
The court believed the van was Supoj’s asset under another name so it should have been declared.