Corruption cases swamp govt schemes for the poor

By The Nation

 

 

SENIOR OFFICIAL SACKED BUT INVESTIGATORS SAY MULTIPLE SUSPECTS INVOLVED IN SYSTEMIC GRAFT

 

THE EDUCATION Ministry sacked a senior official yesterday and plans to claim compensation from everyone involved in irregular disbursements from its Educational Fund for Life Development between 2007 and 2018, after more than Bt100 million was found to have been illicitly diverted during the period. 

 

Education Minister Teerakiat Jareonsettasin said yesterday he had set up a committee to investigate officials involved. 

 

“Some officials shall be held accountable for breaches. Even if some officials were not engaged in corruption, they can be held responsible for negligence,” Teerakiat said. 

 

He added that he expected the committee to identify the amounts each involved official would have to pay back to the fund in compensation. 

 

A source, who asked to remain anonymous, said if they were convicted of breaches of duty, Finance Department officials could be held responsible for 60 per cent of damages while relevant supervisors and officials that had granted approval for the disbursements would probably be responsible for the remainder.

 

“Probably, the permanent secretary for education may have to pay 20 per cent of the damages,” the source said. 

 

Rojana Sintee, the C8-ranked official who was fired from the ministry yesterday, has claimed that she acted alone in embezzling money from the fund. 

 

Investigating authorities, however, have said they suspected many more officials were involved.

 

Established in 1999, the Educational Fund for Life Development had a start-up budget of more than Bt600 million with the founding objective to boost educational opportunities for underprivileged children.

 

Rojana was in charge of preparing a list of fund recipients, but she also included the bank accounts of her relatives and other people she knew. After disbursements were approved, as much as Bt118 million was transferred to 22 bank accounts.

 

All of the accounts were closed on February 22. 

 

Pol Lt-Colonel Siripong Sritula of the Office of Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) said inspections at Rojana’s house suggested she had not been the only one receiving ill-gotten gains from embezzled funds. 

 

“We will try to find out if an official more senior than [Rojana] was involved,” he said. 

 

In a related development, PACC assistant secretary-general Pol Lt-Colonel Wannop Somjintanakul said yesterday his agency had finished its preliminary investigation of 53 protection centres for the destitute and found suspicious practices at all of them. In the last fiscal year, they received Bt107 million.

 

There are 76 protection centres for the destitute in Thailand, all of which receive state budgets from the Social Development and Human Security Ministry, which are meant to help underprivileged people in their respective areas. 

 

The PACC began investigating the centres after a university student, who was posted as a trainee at the Khon Kaen Protection Centre for the Destitute, alerted her university and authorities about irregularities. She said she had been instructed by centre officials to forge signatures on official forms. 

 

The investigation later revealed many eligible people had not received financial aid, although official records bearing forged signatures claimed they had been recipients.

 

The PACC has already detected irregularities at 53 centres, with the 23 other centres still being investigated. 

 

Wannop said recently alleged new irregularities had been confirmed at centres in Loei, Chon Buri, Phuket and Pattani provinces. 

 

The PACC has also investigated four self-help settlements on suspicion that they also might have been involved in corruption. 

 

Three of those cases have been or will be handed over to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) given suspicious practices appearing to implicate very senior officials. 

 

The PACC can investigate alleged wrongdoing by officials ranked up to the level of C7 only. Thailand’s bureaucratic system is ranked based on seniority from C1 to C11, and officials ranked C9 or higher are the responsibility of the NACC.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30341798

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-03-27

This really is cringeworthy stuff. Two-thirds of the centres investigated so far, and every single one is suspected of irregularities. Even worse, it's been going on for at least 11 years before a whistleblower had the courage to speak up. Buddha help those who profit at the expense of the poor.

After deciding on criminal as his career path, little Somchai was faced with the tough choice of public or private sector. Who knows if he will ever manage to sufficiently shed the burdens of conscience and morality, develop the indifference to other's plight, and gain sufficient wealth to buy the cloak of respectability, to eventually reach the point where the paths once more merge - getting elected.

You see the TRUE face of  Thailand, quit the nonsense on the lovely smiling Thais, its all GREED SELF and MONEY and this really is the very very small TIP of the world biggest ICEBERG.

25 minutes ago, halloween said:

After deciding on criminal as his career path, little Somchai was faced with the tough choice of public or private sector. Who knows if he will ever manage to sufficiently shed the burdens of conscience and morality, develop the indifference to other's plight, and gain sufficient wealth to buy the cloak of respectability, to eventually reach the point where the paths once more merge - getting elected.

He Did and bought 25  watches

1 hour ago, webfact said:

In a related development, PACC assistant secretary-general Pol Lt-Colonel Wannop Somjintanakul said yesterday his agency had finished its preliminary investigation of 53 protection centres for the destitute and found suspicious practices at all of them. In the last fiscal year, they received Bt107 million.

This is industrial-strength corruption and outside of a few stories in the papers (Good for you, Nation!) I haven't heard a word from the political leader of Thailand. The silence is DEAFENING!

 

Based on what we know so far, it is clear that there has been a wide-spread scheme of stealing money from across the breadth of the entire ministry/ministries. Simply put, this could not occur without a central coordinating mechanism and I do not see how that would be possible without the direct knowledge of the senior official(s) and/or the Minister personally. Again, the silence is DEAFENING!

 

It seems a similar type of scheme was occurring in the Education ministry, and again it is unlikely that it could have occurred without the knowledge and consent of senior officials up and including the Minister. Again, the silence is DEAFENING!

 

Clearly this has been going on for years and years, so one can't blame it on the Junta alone. However, the Junta seized power for, among other stated reasons, cleaning up corruption. This is ALREADY a shocking corruption scandal(s) and if investigations continue there will certainly be more. Much more.

 

And the silence from Prrayut is DEAFENING!

 

DEAFENING!

 

 

Officials might not be involved with corruotion but may be neglegent .The committee will identify which officials were involved /how much  to pay back. 

Finance department officials could be responsible for 60 percent.supervisors and officials responsible for dispersments pay for the remainder. Probably  the permanent secretary of education might have to pay back 20 percent. 

Meaning.

 let the little lady take the fall. They were not corrupt but negligent, and pigs will fly. 

They will pay the money back and sweep this under the carpet. 

Yingluck was given  5 years, because though  not corrupt, apparently she knew about it and did nothing. None of the welfare corruption could happen on such a large scale  without a coordinated effort by senior government officials. The whole country has been scammed. 

I will be surprised if this lady lives for a month. 

53 minutes ago, Samui Bodoh said:

This is industrial-strength corruption and outside of a few stories in the papers (Good for you, Nation!) I haven't heard a word from the political leader of Thailand. The silence is DEAFENING!

 

Based on what we know so far, it is clear that there has been a wide-spread scheme of stealing money from across the breadth of the entire ministry/ministries. Simply put, this could not occur without a central coordinating mechanism and I do not see how that would be possible without the direct knowledge of the senior official(s) and/or the Minister personally. Again, the silence is DEAFENING!

 

It seems a similar type of scheme was occurring in the Education ministry, and again it is unlikely that it could have occurred without the knowledge and consent of senior officials up and including the Minister. Again, the silence is DEAFENING!

 

Clearly this has been going on for years and years, so one can't blame it on the Junta alone. However, the Junta seized power for, among other stated reasons, cleaning up corruption. This is ALREADY a shocking corruption scandal(s) and if investigations continue there will certainly be more. Much more.

 

And the silence from Prrayut is DEAFENING!

 

DEAFENING!

 

 

Nice of you to notice this has been a long-running scam. What would you have Prayuth say, and is some speech more important than actual investigation, restitution and prosecution?

Rotten to the core.

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Finance Department officials could be held responsible for 60 per cent of damages while relevant supervisors and officials that had granted approval for the disbursements would probably be responsible for the remainder.

 

“Probably, the permanent secretary for education may have to pay 20 per cent of the damages,” the source said. 

where did these crazy numbers come from ? an illegal dartboard ?

I want to see the face of the shamless, disgusting, low life Rojana Sintee ..the face of true greed

The bottom feeders unabashedly feed off of the bottom rungs of society.  No doubt these same people will attend the local wat and pretend to be compassionate Buddhists.  Thai society, as a whole, is a dog-eat-dog world where virtually everyone wants to be a 'top-dog' and once attaining a position higher than someone else, will seek to steal what they can from those less fortunate than themselves. "I'm the top dog so I deserve all the bones."  Thailand will never escape to be more than a quasi-third-world country at best due to the endemic corruption. 

Oh dear! They found that 100 million is embezzled. Fantastic, but do they really know that they will find billions if they look into every tambon and the caretaker of thoose, that after election always comes in a new car. start a new business or just live like a king on the village money.

The recovery of funds is important and laudable but I want to see pictures and names and prison sentences that befit this disgusting episode. 

Negligence, jail, corruption, jail. 

Do your jobs well or accept the punishment, stripped of assets and pensions, come on, get serious. 

Those low ranking officials caught up in this are merely sacrificial lambs offered by those on the very top.....to keep attention away from the billions embezzled around the clock 365 days a year.....

The Thaitanic on it's voyage towards disaster.....Because one day the people are going to wake up...and it is not going to be pretty..

Just now, JOC said:

Those low ranking officials caught up in this are merely sacrificial lambs offered by those on the very top.....to keep attention away from the billions embezzled around the clock 365 days a year.....

The Thaitanic on it's voyage towards disaster.....Because one day the people are going to wake up...and it is not going to be pretty..

I think that should be changed to the "decent people of  Thailand" which there are many but seriously overwhelmed by the  bigger majority of lowlife, greedy pond  feeders

Very sad reading , especially since many of the guilty have had a good education and posses university degrees. They really should be above this and be setting an example.

Instead , they just can't resist the temptation to line their pockets at the expense of the poor.

Sondhi Limongkul once said that civil servants were amongst the most corrupt sector of Thai society.

Seems he was right.

These stealers make me want to vomit!

I wonder how rare a uncorrupted Thai official that can drive is there must be one somewhere.?  

2 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

I wonder how rare a uncorrupted Thai official that can drive is there must be one somewhere.?  

Yes there are some uncorrupted officials out there, but only a few.

Juniors see bosses paying huge sums of money to get their high ranking positions.

Then they think if the boss can pay big money, then claw it back through corruption/ greed, so i can do the same, a never ending cycle.

5 hours ago, webfact said:

THE EDUCATION Ministry sacked a senior official yesterday and plans to claim compensation from everyone involved in irregular disbursements from its Educational Fund for Life Development between 2007 and 2018, after more than Bt100 million was found to have been illicitly diverted during the period. 

This period is really a lost decade of 2 coups and unstable governments. Corrupt state officials take this opportunity to steal when the country is in a mess and governments were too occupied with fending off political attacks and dropped the ball in governance. If there is a blame, it falls on the scheming establishment and the military for the unstable political situation and short elected government tenure that foster a decade of loose governance.   

6 hours ago, webfact said:

The PACC can investigate alleged wrongdoing by officials ranked up to the level of C7 only. Thailand’s bureaucratic system is ranked based on seniority from C1 to C11, and officials ranked C9 or higher are the responsibility of the NACC.

So C8 should be untouchable then.

2 hours ago, Denim said:

Very sad reading , especially since many of the guilty have had a good education and posses university degrees. They really should be above this and be setting an example.

Instead , they just can't resist the temptation to line their pockets at the expense of the poor.

Sondhi Limongkul once said that civil servants were amongst the most corrupt sector of Thai society.

Seems he was right.

I thought a good education was a direct path to the trough for most.

7 hours ago, webfact said:

claim compensation from everyone involved in irregular disbursements from its Educational Fund for Life Development between 2007 and 2018

Not a mention anywhere of anyone going to jail.

This seems typical of  "white collar" crime in Thailand wherein money is the only issue in criminal charges.It is where repayment of stolen cash plus perhaps a cash fine resolves the crime. In effect the guilty remain free with there no real deterrent to repeat nor prevent copycat offenders.

9 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

Not a mention anywhere of anyone going to jail.

This seems typical of  "white collar" crime in Thailand wherein money is the only issue in criminal charges.It is where repayment of stolen cash plus perhaps a cash fine resolves the crime. In effect the guilty remain free with there no real deterrent to repeat nor prevent copycat offenders.

Not a mention anywhere ............    No Srikcir , the further up the chain of corruption the bigger the envelopes .  I won't mention a fellow who bashed his Ferrari .

It seems they may need to add a new wing to the huge building that houses all the officials and police on inactive posts.

It really is time to remove ' Cash ' from the equation, all those that qualify for handouts from whatever department should be given one of those new cards that are already being used for subsistence or pension or whatever payment it is, that way greedy corrupt officials cannot get their greedy mitts on it, the money is credited automatically via a central computer, thereby giving an audit trail all the way. 

 

As I was reading the OP I was just shaking my head in disbelief as to how corrupt the system is, and to take from those that cannot defend themselves is reprehensible.

3 hours ago, JOC said:

Those low ranking officials caught up in this are merely sacrificial lambs offered by those on the very top.....to keep attention away from the billions embezzled around the clock 365 days a year.....

The Thaitanic on it's voyage towards disaster.....Because one day the people are going to wake up...and it is not going to be pretty..

Agreed and the wake up is already commencing if you talk to many working class Thais at all levels of society, not just the highly educated ones.

A society is judged by how it treats its most unfortunate members. (There are variations of this saying variously attributed to Gandhi, Mandela, Dostoyevsky, Humphrey and the bloke next door.)

 

You be the judge.

Thailand, at its corrupt best.

 

Thanks to the setting-up of a fund - would you believe, for the destitute - a good number of Thai officials, i.e. people with jobs that pay better monthly wages than a poor person might see in a year or, maybe, in a lifetime, have demonstrated to the Junta corruption-stoppers just how corrupt Thai officialdom can be . . . when it tries to take a leaf out of their big bosses' books.

 

Well done, Prayut and Prawit. You'll get your country to the top of the Corruption charts by election time . . . if you show your troops what you can really do, when you try. What, with watch acquisitions and property 'dealings', there's no telling what you could do in another mere twelve eleven months.