OAG won’t push for Yingluck travel freeze
B500 bn sought for rice scheme damage
The Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) will not seek a court order to prohibit Yingluck Shinawatra from travelling abroad after it indicts the former prime minister today.
Ms Yingluck is being indicted in connection with the failed rice-pledging scheme.
The OAG has confirmed it will indict Ms Yingluck before the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office-Holders today whether or not she turns up in court as requested by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).
Ms Yingluck faces charges, under Section 157 of the Criminal Code and Section 123/1 of the 1999 Organic Law on Counter-Corruption, of dereliction of duty regarding alleged corruption in her government’s rice-pledging scheme.
OAG deputy spokesman Kosolwat Inthujanyong said attorneys-general Chutthichai Sakhakorn and Surasak Treerattanakul will file the suit at 10am.
The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office-Holders will then decide whether to accept the suit before setting the trial date.
Asked whether the OAG would make any request to the court about Ms Yingluck’s bail or her ability to travel abroad, Mr Kosolwat said there will be no such requests since the judge panel overseeing the case will consider the issue itself.
The National Council for Peace and Order early this month rejected a request from Ms Yingluck to travel to Hong Kong, saying she was about to be indicted by the OAG. Some fear if she is given permission to go abroad, she will flee the pending court case.
Meanwhile, a Pheu Thai source said the ex-premier will not report for her indictment today.
The source said Ms Yingluck is waiting for the opening hearing of the trial to present herself before the court.
National Reform Council member Wanchai Sornsiri pointed out the accused is not legally obliged to report to the court for indictment procedures.
NACC president Panthep Klanarongran said her absence today will have no consequences on the case though the anti-graft agency had previously sent Ms Yingluck a letter advising her to attend the indictment today.
However, Mr Panthep warned that if the Supreme Court accepts the suit and sets a hearing date, she will have to appear before the court then.
The NACC yesterday also advised the Finance Ministry to file a suit against Ms Yingluck for her failure to stop the loss-ridden rice-pledging scheme.
Mr Panthep said the ministry should demand at least 600 billion baht in compensation.
Finance Minister Sommai Phasee has instructed the Comptroller-General’s Department to outline how to seek compensation from ousted prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra for estimated damage of more than 500 billion baht from the ricepledging scheme.
The Finance Ministry must file a civil suit demanding the return of government money following a request from the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), he said.
Several state agencies have been involved in the issue since it is a landmark case, Mr Sommai said.
“As it’s a big issue, I need to discuss it with related units before answering any questions,” he said.
“We cannot do it briskly — it needs thorough consideration. It’ll take a few days to see how we can do that.”
The NACC recently said it would recommend the ministry lodge a civil suit demanding compensation from Ms Yingluck over negligence in her government’s rice scheme.
The move came after the NACC advised the ministry to proceed with a civil lawsuit against 21 individuals and companies involved in allegedly corrupt government-to-government rice deals. They include former commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom, his deputy Poom Sarapol, 19 other high-level officials, private sector executives and two companies.
The NACC has already filed a lawsuit with the Office of the Attorney-General accusing Ms Yingluck of dereliction of duty for failing to stop losses and corruption in the rice subsidy programme.
Mr Sommai said finance permanent secretary Rungson Sriworasat was in charge of estimating losses from the scheme.
A ministry subcommittee overseeing accounting of all rice subsidy schemes earlier estimated losses from buying 84 million tonnes of paddy rice in the 15 schemes from 2004-14 amounted to 682 billion baht, with the Yingluck government alone accounting for 518 billion. The subcommittee is led by Mr Rungson.
Mr Rungson said the subcommittee would meet next Wednesday to update members on accounts to the end of fiscal 2014 from the latest data. The fiscal year runs from Oct 1 to Sept 30.
The latest estimate of financial losses has already taken depreciation of rice in stockpiles into account, he said.
The estimate is based on 10% depreciation in the second year, 20% in the third year and a maximum 40% in the fourth year. Depreciation is allowed to be recorded in the first four years.
A recent inspection of the 17 million tonnes of milled rice bought under the previous government’s scheme found only 2.19 million tonnes were of standard quality and classified as Grade A rice.
Some 14.4 million tonnes were judged to be substandard or Grade B, while the rest was classified as Grade C because it was either rotten or had been registered incorrectly.
The inspection was done by a team working for PM’s Office Minister ML Panadda Diskul.
Mr Rungson said the Commerce Ministry’s rice sale prices needed to be considered in the loss estimate. The ministry had managed to sell rice in recent lots at higher prices than rice sold before the coup last May 22.
The government this week agreed to sell 496,243 tonnes worth 7.85 billion baht to 38 winning bidders in the first auction of state rice stocks this year.
The auction fetched 11 baht a kilogramme on average for white rice, with the offer prices for Hom Mali reaching 31 baht per kg.