DSI hails investigative prowess
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has completed investigating 2,947 cases during its 17 years of existence, with 157 cases still open.
DSI chief, Paisit Wongmuang, said yesterday that the department has looked into a wide variety of cases.
For example, the court recently ordered the seizure of 93 rai of land which had been encroached upon in Sirinart National Park in Phuket.
Pol Col Paisit said the DSI managed to prevent the land grab, which would have cost the state 800 million baht.
The DSI director-general made the comments at a ceremony to mark the 17th anniversary of the DSI’s founding yesterday when 1,000 officials swore an oath not to engage in corruption.
Pol Col Paisit said the DSI has implemented measures to streamline its internal management and manpower. “The measures are proof of the DSI’s commitment to adopt changes to increase its capabilities so it stays relevant,” he said.
He said the DSI deals mainly with four segments of legal cases.
The first involves economic crimes related to financial, banking, taxation and money laundering offences. The department has also carried out investigations into fraudulent loans. There are a total of 803 cases in this segment.
The second segment has to do with information technology crimes and violations of intellectual property rights. A total of 528 cases are in this group.
The third segment pertains to consumer and environmental protection cases, which also include substandard industrial products. This segment covers 373 cases.
The last segment comprises of 950 cases relating to international crimes and crimes of a special nature, involving acts committed by foreign nationals in operating commercial businesses, submitting bids for state projects, human trafficking, crimes against national security and moral decency.
The DSI requires a budget of about a billion baht per year to perform its duties, said Pol Col Paisit.