NACC to sit on scion sleaze body

All members of the National AntiCorruption Commission (NACC) will sit on a newly formed panel that is tasked with investigating 15 senior police officers, prosecutors and investigators who mishandled the 2012 hit-and-run case involving Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya, the Red Bull scion who has managed to escape prosecution so far.

Because the case is a highprofile one, the nine NACC commissioners were ordered to carry out the investigation themselves.

NACC chairman, Watcharapol Prasarnrajkit, emphasised that the investigation must be wrapped up in a timely fashion, Niwatchai Kasemmongkol, NACC deputy secretary-general and spokesman, said yesterday.

As required under Section 48 of the National Anti-Corruption Act, the NACC must conclude the probe within two years. It will be allowed by law to extend the investigation for another year at most, if more time is needed, said Mr Niwatchai. The appointment of the nine-member panel was approved at a NACC meeting on Monday, he said.

Among the 15 people which will be investigated are two police generals and two senior police officers, he said.

There are currently two other committees probing the issue. One of them is a panel set up by the Public Prosecutor Commission (PPC), which previously investigated and implicated former deputy attorney-general Nate Naksuk over his controversial decision to drop charges against the Red Bull scion in the infamous hit-and-run case.