Video footage ‘implicates school director’

[rooster59]

Video footage ‘implicates school director’

By Tawee Apisakulchart, 
Kanita Seetong 
The Nation

 

 

Locals told to lie over destitute fund payments

 

A VIDEO CLIP showing a school director lobbying local people to tell lies in an apparent bid to protect the allegedly corrupt chief of the Nakhon Phanom Protection Centre for the Destitute has been handed over to anti-graft officials.

 

The clip, now in the hands of the Office of Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC), confirms initial reports that officials outside the Social Development and Human Security Ministry were also implicated in the alleged embezzlement of the ministry’s funds for the underprivileged. 

 

“Our key witness says the lobbying took place on February 27, just before our team arrived at the province to gather information directly from the people,” Korntip Daroj, acting secretary-general of the PACC, said yesterday. 

 

He said the witness revealed that the school director had told locals to sign a receipt as well as a certified copy of their national identification card claiming that their old documents were no longer valid for reimbursement. Locals were paid between Bt50 and Bt100 each as compensation when they met the school director.

 

“The locals were asked to lie and to insist to the PACC team that they had already received money from the centre,” Korntip revealed. 

 

The PACC has started investigating provincial protection centres for the destitute across the country after Mahasarakham University student Panida Yotpanya, who worked as a trainee at the Khon Kaen Protection Centre for the Destitute, blew the whistle about alleged irregularities there. 

 

The ongoing probe has now covered provincial centres that received budgets of more than Bt1-million for the poor. Officials said irregularities had already been detected in nearly 30 provinces, including Nakhon Phanom. The PACC team gathered information in Nakhon Phanom from Monday to Thursday.

 

The team found that many people had never received any financial assistance from the Nakhon Phanom Protection Centre for the Destitute but their names and documents were used for reimbursement. 

 

Many other people revealed to the team that they were paid Bt1,000 in the middle of last month, after investigations had already begun into alleged corruption in disbursement of the fund for the destitute.

 

According to the team, they were also told by local leaders that they should tell the PACC they had received money on the date appearing on the receipt.

 

“The team also reported that some locals were in fact paid just Bt50 to Bt100 each to sign the documents. But records at the centre show they received more than Bt5,000 from the centre,” Korntip said. 

 

He said the centre’s implicated officials would not be able to evade legal punishment, even if they arranged retroactive payments. 

 

“Their alleged actions constitute offences, which are punishable with minimum life imprisonment,” Korntip said. 

 

He vowed to investigate further to nail down those engaged in the corruption. 

 

“At present, several people are still reluctant to speak up about the alleged corruption because they are worried about conflicts with local officials,” Korntip said. 

 

In Trang province, two more volunteers for social development and human security came forward yesterday to lodge a complaint with police that their names were illegally used to claim welfare assistance of Bt2,000 while they had received just Bt500 as wage to conduct a survey on the poor.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30340603

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-03-10

[Samui Bodoh]

Each and every day this story gets more and more horrific.

 

Stealing money allocated for the destitute; is there a greater crime?

 

This calls for a special investigation/task force and a genuine commitment to get to the bottom of it all.

 

If ever there was a time to do the right thing...

 

[colinneil]

Disgusting thats what it is, greedy scum taking money destined for poor people, and having the cheek to pay them a 100 baht to lie.

Catch them all, punish them severely, confiscate their ill -gotten gains, pure scum, the rich getting richer off the backs of the poor.

[dyertribe]

So ... given that previous leaders of a previous government were prosecuted for negligence in not knowing that 'rorting' was occurring, can we expect to see the generals in court and paying restitution?


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[anon537687643]

What is significant is there arent enough checks and balances to prevent this fraud! Developed countries have a system whereby there would need scores of coherts to be complicit for such fraud to even begin!
All of this allows the high levels of Corruption to continue and the only way the perps are caught is when individuals in the know speak out!
 



Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[blackcab]

19 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

...which are punishable with minimum life imprisonment,” Korntip said. 

 

This is going to be interesting.

[rkidlad]

When you put so much emphasis on heirarchy in a culture and where corruption is a social norm, you get people who believe themselves to be better than others and deserving of more regardless of the the consequences. 

 

Whereas I see the people who stole the money as abhorrent and completely immoral pieces of s***, the people who stole the money simply wont. They won’t see the problem and would probably just say, “What? Everyone’s doing it?”

 

Thai culture needs to take a long hard look at itself in the mirror. 

Edited March 10, 2018 by rkidlad

[mercman24]

well done that young student, this needs keeping in the spotlight, but we all know this country is corrupt from top to bottom, and what did the big chief say, he was going to wipe out corruption, nah !! this lot is part of it,. and the report recently; said this was the country to invest in, of course this would be after you payed every man and his dog a bribe before your business even got off the ground ha ha,

[BobBKK]

Don't tell us... he's "inexperienced" right?

[YetAnother]

42 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

“Their alleged actions constitute offences, which are punishable with minimum life imprisonment,” Korntip said. 

got to be a misquote; while what the offenders did (allegedly) was heinous, life in prison seems a bit overly harsh

[smutcakes]

Nothing will happen after the 'investigation' as cuts of the money taken passes back up the pyramid incriminating everyone.

[darksidedog]

One suspects that this horrific crime is probably being repeated across the entire country. Time for the whole scheme nationwide to be independently audited and those found guilty to have their assets confiscated and get ready for a life in jail. Stealing from the destitute is about as low a crime as you can go.

[stanleycoin]

Low life's in High places, trying to save there skin at all costs.

How unusual is that in Thailand.

 

I'm deeply shocked and traumatized that this can happen in a 

an honest and caring  society like Thailand.  

 

[rkidlad]

15 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

One suspects that this horrific crime is probably being repeated across the entire country. Time for the whole scheme nationwide to be independently audited and those found guilty to have their assets confiscated and get ready for a life in jail. Stealing from the destitute is about as low a crime as you can go.

Problem is you have the Deputy PM caught with at least 25 luxury watches and the PM himself saying it’s a personal matter and doing nothing about it.

 

It’s scary just how big it all is and how it seems everyone is doing it. It’s a business model here. 

[InfinityandBeyond]

If ever there was a time for the Frog Whisperer to bust out his 44 to put a dent in the systemic corruption in the civil service and send a clear message, this is it. 

Alas, I dare to dream. 

[Anak Nakal]

Put them in jail for all life!

[Cadbury]

Just now, InfinityandBeyond said:

If ever there was a time for the Frog Whisperer to bust out his 44 to put a dent in the systemic corruption in the civil service and send a clear message, this is it. 

Alas, I dare to dream. 

His silence on this matter is deafening. That should be some cause for concern.

[Get Real]

They are all just ugly scum. Sieze everything they own. Sell it on auction. Give all the money to the poor. After that they deserve to have between 15-25 years in jail to really get the time to think about what they have been doing.

[robblok]

2 hours ago, dyertribe said:

So ... given that previous leaders of a previous government were prosecuted for negligence in not knowing that 'rorting' was occurring, can we expect to see the generals in court and paying restitution?


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

Only if they can put all YL her ministers in jail too as this was going on then too, this is something that has been going on for 10 years or so. So if you want to get all of them for negligence that would include the previous government(s) as well.

[robblok]

1 hour ago, rkidlad said:

Problem is you have the Deputy PM caught with at least 25 luxury watches and the PM himself saying it’s a personal matter and doing nothing about it.

 

It’s scary just how big it all is and how it seems everyone is doing it. It’s a business model here. 

Yes it almost looks like a business model looks like everyone is in it at local level too. They all want their cut this is something real wide spread. I wonder how many they will arrest for it in the end.

[scorecard]

3 hours ago, YetAnother said:

got to be a misquote; while what the offenders did (allegedly) was heinous, life in prison seems a bit overly harsh

 

Take your point, but there's also the fact that corruption in a million forms is alive and well and involving big money and taking advantage of the unaware, the powerless and naive, an IMHO it won't change one little bit until there is very serious punishment both as a punishment for wrongdoing but perhaps even more important right now to warn diswade further such activities. 

 

 

[harada]

Public stonings for these low lifes, no women allowed.

[rak sa_ngop]

"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others"

 

Animal Farm, by George Orwell.

 

And yes, I have seen a translation of the novel in Thai.

[robblok]

19 minutes ago, scorecard said:

 

Take your point, but there's also the fact that corruption in a million forms is alive and well and involving big money and taking advantage of the unaware, the powerless and naive, an IMHO it won't change one little bit until there is very serious punishment both as a punishment for wrongdoing but perhaps even more important right now to warn diswade further such activities. 

 

 

What should be done as a minium is trying to get all that money back even if it went to relatives and friends.. then on top of that a fine.. so it would lead to bankruptcy of the official no more comfortable life but financial ruin. Of course that is hard as its easy to hide assets in this country. 

[stanleycoin]

54 minutes ago, harada said:

Public stonings for these low lifes, no women allowed.

Is that a picture of what the uk will be like in the future.

After all the terrible prime ministers,  we have had for the last 28 years 

[ChrisY1]

Until Thailand enters the 21st century and actually does accept the digital era....does away with signatures and hard copy IDs...introduces optic scanning, especially for these types of programs, the scammers will continue their trade.

But, IMO, these programs have continued because they can be scammed.....it's been the norm for decades.

Village funds have rarely been advantageous for villages or villagers...apart from the Poo Yai....

The Buddhist funds program have forever been scammed.....no-one cares!

[wirat69]

Robin(g) Hood.... stealing from the poor to give to the rich!!!

[Solinvictus]

Transfer him. That's the solution.

[whaleboneman]

8 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

Each and every day this story gets more and more horrific.

 

Stealing money allocated for the destitute; is there a greater crime?

 

This calls for a special investigation/task force and a genuine commitment to get to the bottom of it all.

 

If ever there was a time to do the right thing...

 

Or better yet, the top of it all. 

[djayz]

Greed