Thai rice miller gets 20 years in jail for rice pledging frauds

[webfact]

Rice miller gets 20 years in jail for rice pledging frauds



BANGKOK: -- The Chaiyaphum Provincial Court has sentenced a rice miller to serve 20 years in prison and nine farmers six months after finding them in rice pledging fraud conspiracy involving the missing of 750 tonnes of paddy and rice from government stocks.

Accused by police and sued in the court is the owner of Nopporn rice mill in Ban Kwao district after 621 tonnes of paddy and 129 tonnes of white rice worth 11 million baht went missing from the warehouse of the mill which joined the previous government’s rice pledging scheme.

Investigations by the police revealed conspiracy between the miller and a number of farmers to cheat the government.

Charges include falsifying official documents, falsify rice vouchers with no rice in stocks, removal of rice in government stocks for multiple pledging, causing 750 tons of paddy and white rice to go missing from government stocks.

The nine farmers were sentenced to six months in prison for the frauds. But they were given two years probation for the imprisonment sentence.

However for the miller, he faced embezzlement charge for the 750 tonnes of rice and paddy which went missing.

The court handed down 20 years in prison with no probation.

The miller can appeal the verdict to the Appeals Court.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/rice-miller-gets-20-years-jail-rice-pledging-frauds/


-- Thai PBS 2014-06-10

[TVGerry]

Well done! Can't wait for more convictions to be handed down. This rice scam has cost us taxpayers a lot of money. It's time people went to jail.

[Tatsujin]

The first of many no doubt . . .

[MaxLee]

And what about the real corrupt masterminds? Will they ever get arrested,... the millers take all the blame on behalf of the TRUE rice pledging mafia big boss...

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

[transam]

And what about the real corrupt masterminds? Will they ever get arrested,... the millers take all the blame on behalf of the TRUE rice pledging mafia big boss...

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

Give it time eh..............

.Where all these folk are going to be locked up could be a problem in the near future............

[Cuchulainn]

Som nam naa..............not long enough!

[Crushdepth]

750 tonnes accounted for, good work. 2,999,250 tonnes to go.

Edited June 10, 2014 by Crushdepth

[Seastallion]

Well done! Can't wait for more convictions to be handed down. This rice scam has cost us taxpayers a lot of money. It's time people went to jail.

Yes, well done, but lets be sure these people that get convicted are not scapegoats for someone higher up.

I think it odd that a group of yokel farmers (with what sort of legal representation?) who conspired to defraud the government get probation; Governments do not usually take kindly when their coffers are pilfered.....unless there is someone higher up the chain and this is all for show. "Look! We got convictions! All the money was stolen by the likes of these farmers.".

[bigbamboo]

Twenty years with no probation for fraud. That's a tough deal.

Now I wonder if he might be interested in being given a whistle to blow......?

[tingtongteesood]

Apart from the probation, good job. I raise a glass to the military government and their continued efforts to set Thailand back on the right course. 6 months to Asean, 6 months to get it all straightened out, they have made a cracking good start..

[HOAX]

IF the case is that the helping farmers knowingly helped this guy, then 6 months is way to short. It sends a clear message out there that it`s worth the risk of helping criminals.

[AleG]

This is but a snowflake at the tip of the iceberg.

[muchogra]

Some agencies seem to have picked up some teeth in carrying out corruption cases in a just manner recently. Chaiyo to them

To fight corruption, the concerned authorities must work with the community through effective law enforcement, education, and prevention. The present militaty seems to be doing just that. Chaiyo again

[GeorgeO]

Twenty years with no probation for fraud. That's a tough deal.

Now I wonder if he might be interested in being given a whistle to blow......?

I suspect that this is exactly how the sh1t is going to start going uphill...!

Give a guy 20 years and I suspect he is going to be pretty keen to start naming those further up the chain. Jail the next guy up, and so on it goes, until they get right to the very top, yes, you guessed it, KhunT...!!

[Fat Haggis]

Well done! Can't wait for more convictions to be handed down. This rice scam has cost us taxpayers a lot of money. It's time people went to jail.

Yes, well done, but lets be sure these people that get convicted are not scapegoats for someone higher up.

I think it odd that a group of yokel farmers (with what sort of legal representation?) who conspired to defraud the government get probation; Governments do not usually take kindly when their coffers are pilfered.....unless there is someone higher up the chain and this is all for show. "Look! We got convictions! All the money was stolen by the likes of these farmers.".

These "Yokel" farmers as you call them were smart enough to see profit in the failed scheme

[UbonRatch]

I actually wonder which rice miller DID NOT take part in any scamming....

There's a lot more to come, and let's just hope one of them is weak enough to expose the real <deleted>s at the top who coordinated it all !

[winstonc]

Twenty years with no probation for fraud. That's a tough deal.

Now I wonder if he might be interested in being given a whistle to blow......?

20 years he will be blowing more than a whistle.. dont feel sorry for him ..he wasnt feeling too guilty while raking in the money was he..maybe offer them one chance to pay it all back instantly and reduce the sentence..win win maybe..just a thought.

[UbonRatch]

Well done! Can't wait for more convictions to be handed down. This rice scam has cost us taxpayers a lot of money. It's time people went to jail.

Yes, well done, but lets be sure these people that get convicted are not scapegoats for someone higher up.

I think it odd that a group of yokel farmers (with what sort of legal representation?) who conspired to defraud the government get probation; Governments do not usually take kindly when their coffers are pilfered.....unless there is someone higher up the chain and this is all for show. "Look! We got convictions! All the money was stolen by the likes of these farmers.".

These "Yokel" farmers as you call them were smart enough to see profit in the failed scheme

Anybody can make a profit in anything if they do things illegally. They weren't smart enough to not get caught, were they?

[tomross46]

Twenty years with no probation for fraud. That's a tough deal.

Now I wonder if he might be interested in being given a whistle to blow......?

I suspect that this is exactly how the sh1t is going to start going uphill...!

Give a guy 20 years and I suspect he is going to be pretty keen to start naming those further up the chain. Jail the next guy up, and so on it goes, until they get right to the very top, yes, you guessed it, KhunT...!!

If he started doing that he could possibly commit suicide while in police custody.

[huanga]

And what about the real corrupt masterminds? Will they ever get arrested,... the millers take all the blame on behalf of the TRUE rice pledging mafia big boss...

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

20 years in jail for 750 tons x THB15,000/ton = about 11 million baht

I can see the miller will be singing like a canary, which in no time, should shake out the mastermind(s) behind the scheme! Hopefully, it will connect all the dots to the ex-commerce minster, because it sure stank to high heaven when this rice scam was in effect!

[iancnx]

And what about the real corrupt masterminds? Will they ever get arrested,... the millers take all the blame on behalf of the TRUE rice pledging mafia big boss...

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

20 years in jail for 750 tons x THB15,000/ton = about 11 million baht

I can see the miller will be singing like a canary, which in no time, should shake out the mastermind(s) behind the scheme! Hopefully, it will connect all the dots to the ex-commerce minster, because it sure stank to high heaven when this rice scam was in effect!

I think you are bang on. The whistleblowers are filling their lungs for sure.

[icare999]

would be good if Taksin Yinglook the clan and hangers on who certainly tool their cut got same and please any Taksin red short supporters dont be so naive to think they did not

To deny Takains regme was not totally corrupt and rotten to core is like denying the holocost

[JoePai]

Well done! Can't wait for more convictions to be handed down. This rice scam has cost us taxpayers a lot of money. It's time people went to jail.

Yes, well done, but lets be sure these people that get convicted are not scapegoats for someone higher up.

I think it odd that a group of yokel farmers (with what sort of legal representation?) who conspired to defraud the government get probation; Governments do not usually take kindly when their coffers are pilfered.....unless there is someone higher up the chain and this is all for show. "Look! We got convictions! All the money was stolen by the likes of these farmers.".

These "Yokel" farmers as you call them were smart enough to see profit in the failed scheme

And dumb enough to take part in it

[JRSoul]

Well done! Can't wait for more convictions to be handed down. This rice scam has cost us taxpayers a lot of money. It's time people went to jail.

Yes, well done, but lets be sure these people that get convicted are not scapegoats for someone higher up.

I think it odd that a group of yokel farmers (with what sort of legal representation?) who conspired to defraud the government get probation; Governments do not usually take kindly when their coffers are pilfered.....unless there is someone higher up the chain and this is all for show. "Look! We got convictions! All the money was stolen by the likes of these farmers.".

These "Yokel" farmers as you call them were smart enough to see profit in the failed scheme

And dumb enough to take part in it

Well, yes. But as long as they kept the criminals in government in government, they were safe.

Edited June 10, 2014 by JRSoul

[ezzra]

Only one rice miller? what about the others?

[Oryx816]

"The nine farmers were sentenced to six months in prison for the frauds. But they were given two years probation for the imprisonment sentence."

They were complicit and an integral part of the fraud....they got a tickle party and the miller got the brunt of it, should have been the same across the board.

[retell]

Aplaus

Well done

[belg]

this was part of the : we all get rich in 6 months fraud promisses

and some did for sure

1 down, how many hundreds to go ?

is this what they call : redistribution of wealth ?

[IamNoone88]

Well you cannot say that there is any miscarriage of justice here. Let's hope this continues and sends a strong message. Positive change is excellent.

[Johnnie99]

I was going to write something really witty, but sometimes, there are simply not words enough.