Govt cracks down on Covid scammers
The Finance Ministry is seeking to prosecute 1,000 shops and individuals it claims defrauded the Kon La Krueng (Half-Half ) co-payment scheme designed to help alleviate financial hardship during the Covid-19 crisis.
One grocery shop owner in Bangkok and six accomplices have already been prosecuted for the offence, according to a ministry spokeswoman.
Kulaya Tantitemit said the ministry has submitted a list of shops and individuals involved in the co-payment scheme fraud to police and the Technology Crime Suppression Division for investigation and prosecution.
A total of 1,024 shops and individuals are in the ministry’s cross hairs. Of them 85 have been formally charged with fraud.
On March 26, the Bang Bon district court found the owner of a grocery store participating in the Kon La Krueng co-payment scheme and six accomplices guilty of embezzlement.
The owner was sentenced to 52 months in jail and fined 260,000 baht, while the six accomplices were handed sentences ranging from 8-17 months and a 40,000-85,000 baht fine. All their sentences were suspended for one year.
The court also ordered the grocery store to return 76,050 baht to the ministry and barred it from future projects the ministry conducts.
Ms Kulaya said the ministry is also trying to make the other blacklisted shops pay back the money they received from the Kon La Krueng scheme.
The spokeswoman said the Finance Ministry was closely monitoring other government-sponsored aid projects such as Rao Chana. Those found violating their terms and agreements would be banned and face criminal charges.
In February, the Education Ministry launched a probe into a teacher in Khon Kaen accused of graft and fiddling the Kon La Krueng and Rao Thiew Duay Kan (We Travel Together) payment schemes.
Police allege the teacher stole the identities of villagers in the province and used them to claim benefits from the Kon La Krueng scheme. The teacher was also accused by villagers of trying to bribe them by offering them 200 baht each to use their identities.