Red-shirt Arisman’s wife deemed unusually wealthy
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) will ask the Supreme Court to confiscate assets worth 42.82 million baht from former Pheu Thai MP Rapipan Pongruangrong, wife of red-shirt leader Arisman Pongruangrong, on the grounds of “unusual wealth”.
NACC secretary-general Worawit Sookboon said yesterday the commission had found Ms Rapipan unable to explain the source of her assets. The agency will ask public prosecutors to take the case to the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions.
The NACC launched an investigation after learning that Ms Rapipan’s wealth had increased by 21.53 million baht during her term as a partylist MP for Pheu Thai, from July 3, 2011, to Dec 9, 2013.
A sub-committee headed by commissioner Supa Piyajitti looked into the source of her wealth and found Ms Rapipan had made a number of financial transactions through her bank accounts and bought a lot of assets during her tenure. The probe found that these transactions were likely to be have been attempts to conceal assets, according to Mr Worawit.
After considering asset verification reports, the NACC resolved that Ms Rapipan had unaccounted for wealth of 42.82 million baht.
This figure consisted of money in six bank accounts totalling 27.62 million baht, three blocks of land worth 9.49 million baht, a building worth 2 million baht, a BMW 730Ld worth 1.8 million baht and a 1.9-million-baht debt repayment with a bank.
The NACC had initially frozen four assets of Ms Rapipan prior to the probe worth 15.54 million baht. These were cash deposits, land, a building and a vehicle.
Her husband Arisman is currently out on bail, pending trial in the Supreme Court in connection with staging a riot that disrupted the 2009 Asean Summit in Pattaya.
On March 21, last year, the Court of Appeal upheld a lower court’s ruling sentencing Arisman and 12 others to four years in prison for their role in the protest at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort Hotel, which forced the evacuation of regional leaders and the postponement of the summit.
The storming of the Asean Summit venue took place on April 11, 2009 during the Abhisit Vejjajiva government.
The Pattaya Provincial Court, in March 2015, found them guilty and sentenced each of them to four years in jail, without suspension.