Nacc: Deputy PM Yongyuth Found Guilty In Alpine Case

[khunken]

Nothing that a few changes to the 'reconcilliation' bill wont solve - that is if it's not covered already.

Can anyone name a single non-corrupt member of the current cabinet?

[waza]

Nothing that a few changes to the 'reconcilliation' bill wont solve - that is if it's not covered already.

Can anyone name a single non-corrupt member of the current cabinet?

cue the cricket chirps..........

[khaowong1]

So, if he doesn't acknowedge the charges, then they don't count.. hmmm I like his way of thinking, but everybody thinks I'm crazy anyway..

[gand]

Will he serve any of the time?

[Buchholz]

Estate ruling will affect hundreds

Land scandal casts cloud over future of residents, farming community and golf club members

Rachtanee Estate residents in Pathum Thani's Klong Luang district and a community of former farmers related to the Alpine land controversy have vowed to fight any move to relocate them without justice, after ownership of their land was revoked and declared monastic property. They said they were victims of collusion between state officials and politicians.

The Alpine land controversy re-emerged after the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) ruled 6-3 on June 13 that Yongyuth Wichaidit - now a deputy prime minister - violated Section 157 of the Criminal Code and committed malfeasance by certifying the sale of monastic land belonging to Wat Thammikaram to Alpine Real Estate Co and Alpine Golf & Sports Club Co on March 13, 2002, when he was deputy permanent secretary at the Interior ministry.

The NACC sent the Interior Ministry a recommendation that Yongyuth be dismissed and has requested that the Attorney General indict him.

Yongyuth, however, insists he is innocent until proven otherwise by a court. Besides, he said three members of the NACC believed he was innocent and the Attorney General had yet to decide whether to indict him.

People who would be affected if the Alpine land is declared to be monastic property include over 300 families who bought land and houses in the estate (each paid between Bt2-3 million for a single house); 50 former farmers for whom plots of land were set aside after they were left unable to make a living from rice farming; and 900 members of the Alpine golf club.

Boon Vanasin, president of Rachtanee Estate Co, which owns the Alpine plot, has urged the government to pay Bt6 billion in compensation to the company and people who bought the houses if the land title deeds for the 924-rai plot are revoked.

Former farmer Sri Srichai, 61, believed he was a victim of politicians and government officials who colluded to cheat Wat Thammikaram through a shrouded deal to obtain monastic land.

He is from one of about 50 families of ex-farmers who rented the temple's land to grow rice and refused to be evicted by the Alpine group. They were given one rai for every 30 rai of rice they planted, and live in a community called Soi Samakki.

Wirat Kammuang, a village chief of Tambon Klong 5, said people involved are split over whether they should move off the land. Some like Sri believed they should be allowed to continue living there since they had done no wrong and had spent money building houses and a community. Infrastructure such as roads and a large golf course had replaced the rice farm, and he said it would be ridiculous if these things had to be demolished.

"If the land is finally returned to the temple, at least the golf course and people who have houses here should be allowed to rent the land from the temple. That is a better alternative than relocating people and destroying everything,'' Wirat said.

Others such as Kwanchai Sangdithi, 39, said affected people must get satisfactory compensation if they have to relocate - if the government decides the land must be returned to the temple. "I was misled that all court cases against the Alpine group had been dropped, so I bought my house for Bt2.5 million, and if I receive compensation not less than this, I am ready to push off, she said.

The Nation - September 16, 2012

[AleG]

Boon Vanasin, president of Rachtanee Estate Co, which owns the Alpine plot, has urged the government to pay Bt6 billion in compensation to the company and people who bought the houses if the land title deeds for the 924-rai plot are revoked.

What's Thai for chutzpah?

The bare-balled nerve of it. Get land through corruption and then demand compensation when justice (may or may not) prevails.

By the way, isn't Thaksin still the owner (through this company) of Alpine?

[Noistar]

Will he serve any of the time?

I think you're assuming that guilt has any relevance to the Thai legal system.

Don't confuse matters by including facts:)

[Buchholz]

Yongyuth's future in the balance

The Nation on Sunday September 23, 2012

An Election Commission (EC) member has suggested that Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit seek the EC's advice on whether he has to quit the two powerful posts immediately, following a Civil Service Committee ruling against his handling of the Alpine land case.

The Civil Service Committee resolved on Thursday to "expel" Yongyuth, a former Interior Ministry permanent secretary, after the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) decided to indict him for unlawfully certifying as legal the 2002 sale of a 732-rai land plot owned by a foundation representing Wat Thammikaram to Alpine Real Estate Co and Alpine Golf & Sports Club.

Yongyuth approved the sale even though the plot was owned by a monastery and could not be sold or transferred.

Given the latest development, the Yongyuth case could prompt Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to reshuffle her Cabinet if Yongyuth has to leave his current posts.

Current Interior permanent secretary Phranai Suwannarat, who is the Civil Service Committee's vice chairman but did not attend Thursday's meeting, was reportedly scheduled to hold a press conference at 9am today to clarify the issue.

Former charter drafter Seri Suwanpanont said the Civil Service Committee's expulsion resolution immediately disqualified Yongyuth from his ministerial and MP posts.

"If Yongyuth refuses to leave the posts, the Election Commission can file a complaint to the Constitution Court. It has the mandate to do so. If it doesn’t, any person can file the complaint. Yongyuth can also do that [to seek] clarity," Seri said.

However, if Yongyuth disagrees with the order, he has the right to file a case with the Administrative Court, which could prolong the process of his disqualification from the ministerial and MP posts, Seri said.

According to the Constitution, a person who has been dismissed from government service or a state enterprise is prohibited from becoming an MP or a minister.

EC member Prapun Naigowit said yesterday that Yongyuth should ask the EC to point out whether he has to leave his posts right away.

The expulsion order signed by Deputy Interior Minister Chuchart Harnsawat on Thursday referred to a meeting on September 14 at which it was agreed the committee had no choice but to expel Yongyuth.

"The Interior Ministry's Civil Service Committee, in the meeting 8/2012 [the eighth meeting of 2012] on September 14, 2012 agreed with the minority of the National Anti-Corruption Commission that there had not been enough evidence to believe that Yongyuth Wichaidit committed the wrongdoing as accused," the document said. However, after the NACC resolved to indict Yongyuth, the committee had no choice but to expel him according to the anti-corruption law and the ministry's regulations, the document said.

At the end of the document, the committee cited an opinion from the Council of State saying Yongyuth was qualified to benefit from the 2007 Exoneration Act, which affords some leniency to people convicted of a crime or disciplinary violation if they have never committed the crime before. It also said Yongyuth could appeal to the Civil Service Committee's ethics panel within 30 days or file a complaint to the Administrative Court within 90 days.

The Council of State yesterday issued a memo saying Yongyuth is eligible for leniency under the Exoneration Act. According to the memo, the council was ordered to consider the case by the prime minister. The memo was identified as being issued by the council's secretary-general, Achaporn Charachinda, but does not bear his signature.

The document was sent a Nation's reporter by Yongyuth's staff. Yongyuth refused to talk about the case.

However, a question about the meeting remains, as Phranai, who is the vice chairman of the committee, and his deputy Wallop Pringpong both told reporters that they did not acknowledge the meeting, which was chaired by Chuchart.

A source from the Interior Ministry, who asked not to be named, said there had been no meeting of the ministry's civil service committee since the beginning of September.

Asked by The Nation via telephone about the report of the meeting on Yongyuth's case, Chuchart said, "We [he and Yongyuth] work in the same ministry, please don't force me to say anything. I beg you. It is about the law."

The latest Exoneration Act was issued in 2007, and affords people convicted of crime or subject to a disciplinary violation no later than December 5 of the year some leniency if they have never committed the crime before.

Yongyuth earlier this week told the media he was not worried about the case, saying it was brought up every time there was speculation on the next Cabinet reshuffle.

.

Edited September 22, 2012 by Buchholz

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

Nothing that a few changes to the 'reconcilliation' bill wont solve - that is if it's not covered already.

Can anyone name a single non-corrupt member of the current cabinet?

No

[Buchholz]

http://61.19.244.31/...2012_073623.jpg

Yongyuth faces NACC ruling of severe malfeasance in Alpine case

BANGKOK, 23 September 2012 (NNT) - The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has found Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit guilty of severe malfeasance in the Alpine golf course case.

The Ministry of Interior has upheld the NACC’s ruling which will cause Yongyuth to be dismissed retroactively from the post of Deputy Permanent Secretary for Interior, which he was holding when the wrongdoing took place.

Permanent Secretary for Interior Phranai Suwannarat said the NACC ruled that Yongyuth had breached severe disciplinary offences when he was acting Permanent Secretary for Interior.

The NACC also agreed to revoke the order of the then Director-General of the Department of Lands to transfer the ownership of a land plot at the center of the case in 2002.

However, Mr Phranai said Yongyuth’s punishment will be erased from his record as a result of the Justifiable Act B.E.2007, clearing government officials from any wrongdoing committed before 2007. The pardon, issued on the occasion of His Majesty the King’s 80th birthday anniversary, leaves Yongyuth’s ministerial post unaffected.

-- NNT 2012-09-23

[Moruya]

Nothing that a few changes to the 'reconcilliation' bill wont solve - that is if it's not covered already.

Can anyone name a single non-corrupt member of the current cabinet?

No

It's a prerequisite.

Worn like a badge or tattoo

[Sharp]

Will he be transferred to a non-active post?

Na Primeminister has it already ....

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa app

[Buchholz]

Government seeking another quiet Deputy PM

The government is stonewalling on the fate of Interior Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit in an attempt to avoid infighting over the Cabinet line-up.

Over the weekend, Pheu Thai Party Spokesman Prompong Nopparit condemned a party clique for trying to oust Yongyuth so that a former minister could resume power by becoming his successor.

Many saw his remarks as a veiled attack on former executives of the disbanded Thai Rak Thai Party who are jockeying for political appointments.

Yongyuth's job security is at risk because of his involvement in the Alpine land scandal in March 2002 when he was a Deputy Permanent-Secretary at the Interior Ministry.

Last month, the National Anti-Corruption Commission notified the ministry of its ruling in June to punish Yongyuth for a serious disciplinary offence.

On September 14, the ministry's civil service sub-commission convened a meeting to mete out punishment by discharging Yongyuth from the civil service with effect retroactive to before his retirement on September 30, 2002.

Under the Constitution, a serious disciplinary offender is banned from joining the Cabinet and holding a House seat.

But the government is allowing him to cling to his job for the sake of political expediency.

The debate on Yongyuth's status will remain inconclusive until the government can come up with an amicable solution to reallocate Cabinet seats without triggering a split within the ruling party.

The fate of Yongyuth has far-reaching political and legal ramifications.

Yongyuth joined the Cabinet under the joint quota allocated to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her brother Thaksin.

If Yongyuth is to be replaced, Yingluck and Thaksin must consider three crucial factors.

First, Yongyuth is presently the designated caretaker should Yingluck be unable to perform her duties.

At this juncture, no qualified candidates have emerged.

Yongyuth's successor should be well accepted by the Pheu Thai ranks, as well as not too ambitious to outshine Yingluck.

Second, Yingluck and Thaksin have yet to finalise a joint decision on whether to pick one or two successors to Yongyuth.

Thaksin is apparently pushing for Thai Rak Thai veterans while Yingluck is reluctant to turn back the clock.

Third, Yingluck and Thaksin have to tread carefully to avoid a potential clash between Pheu Thai and its Thai Rak Thai allies.

For the time being, Yongyuth is an indispensable link to the power sharing within the Cabinet.

The government can, however, keep him on the job as a stopgap measure and not a lasting solution.

The longer Yongyuth remains in the Cabinet, the greater the risk of his legal wrangling will impact on the government.

In the face of disciplinary punishment, the government argued that Yongyuth's offence and record was expunged via an act of Parliament to grant clemency to disciplinary offenders. The bill, to mark His Majesty the King's 80th birthday, was passed five years ago.

Officials claim Yongyuth is entitled to be treated as if he had never been a disciplinary offender because the legislation gave him a fresh start.

The government cited two rulings, one by the Council of State and another by the Civil Service Commission, as justification for Yongyuth keeping his job.

But some key facts have been omitted from the government's justification:

- the two agencies got advice on the impact of disciplinary clemency on the civil service records but not the constitutional implications;

- the two rulings related to clemency granted to individuals already punished, but in this case Yongyuth had not been punished before claiming clemency;

- only the Constitution Court can rule on Yongyuth's job status.

-- The Nation 2012-09-25

[Buchholz]

Yongyuth insists on continuing working as minister

BANGKOK, 27 September 2012 (NNT) – Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit has insisted that he will continue to serve his duties after the Council of State decided he is eligible to leniency.

Yongyuth has been under fire after the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) found him guilty of malfeasance when he, as the deputy permanent secretary for interior in 2002, approved the purchase of the Alpine land, even though the plot was owned by a monastery and could not be sold.

The minister voiced that the petition submitted by the Pheu Thai spokesperson requesting the Election Commission to check on Yongyuth’s eligibily to hold political office, is a personal decision; not the party’s.

He expressed that he will abide by the opinion of the Council of State saying he is qualified to benefit from the 2007 Exoneration Act, which provides leniency to people convicted of crimes or disciplinary violations if they have never committed before.

At the same time, Yongyuth said he is ready to answer all of the questions by the opposition. He has also given documents clarifying his handling of the Alpine case to the media and the Interior Ministry, insisting he has been purged.

Coalition Chief Whip Udomdej Rattanasatien stated that the government whip agreed to follow the Council of State’s suggestion. He voiced that the opposition’s move to file this case to the Constitution Court is their rights.

-- NNT 2012-09-27