Anti-corruption body investigates minister
NACC has questions about vanishing debt
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) is looking into a discrepancy in an asset declaration of Deputy Transport Minister Weerasak Wangsuphakijkosol and his wife Yolada, in which a 10-billion-baht debt was written off within two years.
Worawit Sukboon, the NACC’s secretary-general, said the commission had begun examining several documents.
“It was found a 10-billion-baht debt that had been previously logged had been just written off. But we need to give enough time to officials to check all documents,” Mr Worawit said.
If the NACC found evidence of wealth concealment, a case would be filed in the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office-Holders, he said.
Previous penalties for politicians and public officials for wealth concealment include being banned from politics for five years.
The 10-billion-baht debt was declared in the “assets and debts” category by Mr Weerasak, a politician from the Bhumjaithai Party and his wife, when he became an MP in 2019.
Yet the 10-billion-baht debt was missing from the latest declaration by Ms Yolada, who on Jan 24 became the president of Nakhon Ratchasima’s provincial administration organisation and was required to declare her assets.
According to a recent statement by the NACC, debts totalling 10 billion baht that had been declared by Mr Weerasak two years ago had since become 35.5 million baht and were solely described as Ms Yolada’s overdrafts.
Mr Weerasak says the 10-billion-baht debt was incurred by someone else and he declared it two years ago simply because he had acted as a surety for that person. He said he did not declare it in his updated assets because the debt had been written off.
Mr Weerasak said he had already submitted documents containing details about the debt in question and he believed the documents were clear enough so that he doesn’t need to explain anything else to the NACC.
Mr Worawit also mentioned the new four cabinet ministers who had joined the cabinet in its latest reshuffle, saying they did not need to declare their assets again because they had already done so upon becoming MPs.
The four are Mr Weerasak, Education Minister Treenuch Thienthong, Digital Economy and Society Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn and Deputy Commerce Minister Sinit Lertkrai.
These four cabinet ministers, however, may choose to declare their assets as a new record between March 28 and May 26 if they want to, he said.