‘Big Joke’ suspended
Deputy national police chief Surachate Hakparn accused Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on Monday (Apr 22) of malfeasance in having him suspended and said that as a result he was blocked from becoming the next national police chief.
Pol Gen Surachate, known as Big Joke, filed his written complaint at the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) on Monday, addressed to NACC secretary-general Niwatchai Kasemmongkol. Pol Gen Surachate also held a press conference at the NACC offices.
He told reporters that the prime minister had earlier transferred him to the PM’s Office pending a 60-day investigation. He was referring to an investigation into his alleged involvement in money-laundering in relation to the BNK Master gambling website.
Pol Gen Surachate, once touted as a possible national police chief, is accused of colluding in money laundering and using his position as a state official to facilitate the crime, in violation of sections 5, 9 and 10 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act.
Four of his subordinates, Pol Col Kittichai Sangkhathaworn, Pol Lt Col Karit Pariyaket, Pol Sgt Natthawut Wadwaew and Pol Sgt Natthanan Chuchak, were also suspended.
There was then an order to move Pol Gen Surachate back to the Royal Thai Police Office. Subsequently, he was suspended from duty on Apr 18, and the following day police interrogators sent his case to the NACC, Pol Gen Surachate said.
If the case had been sent to the NACC in the first place, he would have been considered innocent pending the NACC’s finding and by law he could not have been transferred out of the police force, Pol Gen Surachate said.
There appeared to be an organised movement to persecute him, and as he was already suspended he had time to launch lawsuits against his opponents. “Please be prepared,” Pol Gen Surachate said.
On Monday Pol Gen Surachate also asked the NACC to investigate possible malfeasance by the police interrogators who brought the online gambling case against him.
He said that interrogators had handled the case in the first place, instead of the NACC, because there was a movement to prevent him being the next national police chief.
Pol Gen Surachate said he was the most senior of the candidates who could succeed Pol Gen Torsak Sukvimol, the incumbent, when he retires at the end of September.
Prime Minister Srettha said later at Government House that the Royal Thai Police Office had proposed the suspension of Pol Gen Surachate and he would have been accused of malfeasance if he had blocked it. The case complied with the law and was free of prejudice, Mr Srettha said.
Pol Gen Surachate has the right to appeal and testify under the Royal Thai Police Act.