Welfare fraud probe expands to 44 centres

[webfact]

Welfare fraud probe expands to 44 centres

By PIYANUCH THAMNUKASETCHAI, 
NISANART KANGWALWONG 
THE NATION

 

 

Investigators find elderly and disabled among victims whose money stolen.
 

ALLEGED IRREGULARITIES in allowance payments to people in need have been detected at 44 provincial protection centres for the destitute, but authorities have yet to determine how much out of those centres’ Bt97.8-million budget for fiscal year 2017 was actually embezzled.

 

The figures were revealed by the Office of the Public-Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) yesterday. 

 

Investigations into the other 32 provincial protection centres for the destitute – which received a total of Bt25.3 million in the 2017 fiscal year -– should be completed by May 31, said PACC chief assistant Pol Lt-Colonel Wannop Somjintanakul.

 

Wannop said sub-panels handling further investigations into the 44 provincial centres in question would summon local officials at all levels for interviews to identify culprits within the given timetable. 

 

So far, sub-panels have already been set up to investigate the first batch of seven provincial centres – Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai, Bung Kan, Nong Khai, Surat Thani, Trat and Nan – where 35 individuals have been accused of involvement in alleged graft, he said. 

 

As of press time, offices in 37 more provinces had been proposed for further investigation by the PACC, including Sa Kaew, Udon Thani, Ayutthaya, Yala, Chaiyaphum and Nakhon Ratchasima.

 

Wannop urged people who are entitled to receive welfare payments to tell investigators whether they had received financial aid and how much they had received.

 

Officials had found that documents and forms had been forged to redirect money away from legitimate claimants, he said. Some claimants had not received their payments, or only received partial sums, while others who were recorded as recipients were not even qualified for benefits.

 

After the corruption scandal broke last month, the PACC was tasked to probe 76 state-run protection centres for the destitute, which had received a total of Bt123 million for the 2017 fiscal year to distribute to people in need.

 

The investigation was prompted after a university student trainee at the Khon Kaen Protection Centre for the Destitute claimed she had been forced to forge official forms. 

 

In Krabi yesterday, PACC investigators collected documentary evidence and found about 20 people had been affected by alleged irregularities in allowance payments. 

 

A 66-year-old disabled woman in Khlong Tom district said she had not received any of the Bt3,000 allowance she was entitled to from the provincial centre, while 20 people in Khlong Tom, Khao Phanom and Lam Thab districts said they had either received only Bt1,000 to Bt2,000 of Bt3,000 or no money at all. The PACC is checking another 600 allowance recipients.

 

In Chiang Mai’s San Khamphaeng district, village headman Somdech Kantatha from Tambon Mae Pukha said some recipients had turned out to be not qualified for the allowance, while other recipients who reportedly took the money claimed to have forgotten whether they had collected it. 

 

In San Pa Tong district, village headman Wichien Phakkad from Tambon San Klang said one of the village’s two allowance recipients was certainly a victim of graft. The 75-year-old woman, who said she had received nothing, was illiterate and clearly was not the person who signed her name on the official document, Wichien said. 

 

He said he hoped all wrongdoers in the scheme would be punished, as they had cheated underprivileged people.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30340772

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-03-13

[Samui Bodoh]

13 minutes ago, webfact said:

Welfare fraud probe expands to 44 centres

Everyday it just gets worse and worse.

 

What the hell will it take for there to be a special investigation? If the stories published to date are even half correct, it is a HUGE, EVIL scam to steal money from the most vulnerable, and it seems like it has been going to for YEARS.

 

And still not one word from the general!

 

Hey Junta! You claimed that you were taking power to clean up politics, but your silence here is DEAFENING!!! Get off your asses and do something.

 

I am used to scams and corruption in Thailand, but when HUGE parts of a budget for the MOST VULNERABLE are stolen, I get pissed off.

 

BTW, Good on the Nation for continuing to publish stories... Good work and keep at it.

[Get Real]

They really believe this is something exceptional and they never could have imagined it was so widespread. How would it be if they start a new crackdown called "All People Steal, (APS)".
Check all the authorities and offices, all organisations and everything else that has money collected from people. Then they will se what goes on in real life behind the beautiful scenes of pure and innocent daylight. It´s a dark and ugly world out there.

[ezzra]

Many of poor people in Thailand are largely due to poor money and wealth managements,

outdated ideas about priorities and sustainable income generating practices, and on top

of all that, their own fellow Thai, the very same people who are suppose to help those

cheating and robbing them of their modicum pittances of money the the government give them,

way to Thailand ....

 

[rkidlad]

Thailand has had, and will continue to have many poor people because the people in charge have either been inept in their positions of power or they’ve deliberately been inept (to take money). Thailand has no one to blame but itself. There’s no reason people can’t have a much better standard of living. Time to stop saying ‘mai pan rai’ all the time. 

 

Corruption within the government is a business model here. Corruption is a cancer that only benefits the very few. Think of it like a Ponzi scheme. Corruption is the opposite of ‘Buddhism’. Corruption should be far more offensive than any foreigner sitting on an inanimate object should ever be. And that’s why nationalism sucks too. It just distracts minds off the important matters. 

 

This is truly disgraceful. And it’s a lot bigger than the story here. A lot bigger! 

Edited March 12, 2018 by rkidlad

[mok199]

Thailands ''dirty little secret''....

[Thian]

1 hour ago, Samui Bodoh said:

Everyday it just gets worse and worse.

 

What the hell will it take for there to be a special investigation? If the stories published to date are even half correct, it is a HUGE, EVIL scam to steal money from the most vulnerable, and it seems like it has been going to for YEARS.

 

And still not one word from the general!

 

Hey Junta! You claimed that you were taking power to clean up politics, but your silence here is DEAFENING!!! Get off your asses and do something.

 

I am used to scams and corruption in Thailand, but when HUGE parts of a budget for the MOST VULNERABLE are stolen, I get pissed off.

 

BTW, Good on the Nation for continuing to publish stories... Good work and keep at it.

Well but they are such nice budhist people who can smile so kindly....

 

Don't expect much from the general, last year he seems to take it easy....no more crackdowns or anything...maybe he went on holiday for a long time.

[mtls2005]

At least with the "rice scheme" some money trickled down to the peasants.

 

With the current "government" they seem to keep it all for themselves.

 

I'm sure this latest scheme, Thai Niyom, will be corruption-free.

 

 

[mok199]

this abuse of the vulnerable, leads to hoplessnes ,which fuels addictions, which adds to unwanted pregnancy, which leads to school dropouts, on and on...but when people in power do not posess the most basic of emotions ""shame'', ''guilt''..why would we expect anything less..Disgusting Thailand

Edited March 13, 2018 by mok199
speliing

[Cadbury]

What is concerning is that on issues such as this the anti-corruption caped crusader would be standing in front of a bank of microphones beating his chest and shouting to the world how he will "fix" it. Just like he "fixes" everything else from beach chairs to lotteries.

Given his stone cold silence some might be forgiven for asking who is he protecting? Friends, generals, "connections".

There are two things at play here. On one hand the criminals within the civil service are stealing money that should be going to the destitute while on the other hand we have Santa Claus PM going around throwing money at the poor via Thai Niyom. In many instances it seems that throwaway assistance money only goes to replace the money being stolen by his civil servants. Truly bizarre!

If this investigation goes as it normally does then the heavyweights at the top of the distribution chain who get the bulk of the money will escape scot-free while the frontline thieves who do the stealing for them and get paid peanuts will be the ones captured and punished.

 

 

[Lungstib]

Considering this has been organised from the very highest level I thinks its safe to assume however many offices there are, that's how many are involved in corruption. 

[RichardColeman]

Looks like there will have to be more murderers, rapists and thieves on the streets to make way for the new breed of welfare stealing white collar criminals in the prisons. 

[Anak Nakal]

If stealing from the poor people, they are no Buddhist.

[Kimber]

6 hours ago, mok199 said:

Thailands ''dirty little secret''....

 

Only one of them. 

[Kimber]

6 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

At least with the "rice scheme" some money trickled down to the peasants.

 

With the current "government" they seem to keep it all for themselves.

 

I'm sure this latest scheme, Thai Niyom, will be corruption-free.

 

 

 

The corruption and deceit permeates down to every level.

Late last year I watched a contest for kids in Pattaya Central Plaza put on by a leading Thai toy retailer.

 

By the end of a couple of hours a Thai boy and girl were declared winners and a big fuss was made with photos of them being presented with big gifts of toys etc.

When it was all done the toys were taken off the kids and they were slipped a couple of hundred baht each, to see their disappointed faces was anger material,  but no we must maintain sabai sabai and tolerate the bullshit.

 

 

[PAIBKK]

Corruption and Thailand go hand in hand.

Any idea how many girls working in the bars in Pattaya, Soi Cowboy, Nana and other places are receiving welfare in their hometowns ??? Officially most of them are unemployed and looking for a job out of town.