Senior cops face B9.5m graft investigation

Probe follows home raid on Nauru consul

The Royal Thai Police (RTP) will investigate the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB) deputy commissioner and deputy chief of the Patrol and Special Operation Division (PSD) regarding a 9.5-million-baht graft charge.

The RTP has set up a committee to investigate nine PSD police, better known as the 191 police, over allegations regarding the severity of their regime, said RTP spokesman Pol Maj Gen Atchayon Kraithong.

He said the committee will also probe further to find if the two senior police officers have any links with an ongoing embezzlement case.

The investigation came after a raid on the home of the former consul-general of the Republic of Nauru in Sathon district, led by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and 191 police officers on Dec 22.

Officers of Thung Mahamek Police Station, the precinct where the exconsul-general’s house is located, are investigating a missing sum of 5.5 million baht and another 4 million baht suspected of changing hands in bribes for the release of 11 Chinese nationals found at the site.

According to Pol Maj Gen Atchayon, the officers are now gathering evidence and questioning witnesses, and the missing money will be found soon.

Meanwhile, Pol Maj Gen Atchayon also updated the media about Chinese businessman Chaiyanat “Tuhao” Kornchayanant, saying the RTP may seek the revocation of bail for Pol Col Wanthanaree Kornchayanant, Mr Chaiyanat’s wife if she is found to have been interfering with evidence in her husband’s case.

On Thursday, Attorney-General Naree Thanthasathian pressed multiple charges, including those related to narcotics and money laundering, against Mr Chaiyanat and 41 other suspects, after a 332-page investigation report was sent to the Bangkok South Criminal Court by the Office of Narcotics Litigation. The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) will present testimony on Monday.

Kosolwat Inthuchanyong, the OAG’s deputy spokesman, said that they are questioning 23 suspects currently on bail while trying to track down another 18.

He added that the OAG will contact every country the fugitives are reportedly fleeing to seek their extradition.

In other news, the Chinese owner of Club One Pattaya was stripped of his Thai citizenship yesterday for violating the registration law, according to the Internal Affairs Ministry.

Club One Pattaya was raided in the early hours of Oct 22, and drugs were confiscated while roughly 200 Thai and foreign customers escaped.