Ex-revenue official to be indicted for amassing 600 million baht in ill-gotten wealth

[webfact]

Ex-revenue official to be indicted for amassing 600 million baht in ill-gotten wealth



BANGKOK: -- The National Anti-Corruption Commission has decided to press charges against a former senior revenue official for allegedly amassing almost 600 million baht of ill-gotten wealth.

Ms Supa Piyachitti, a member of the anti-graft agency, said Tuesday that the NACC had decided to submit the case against Mr Suwat Charumaneerote, a former revenue official attached to the 27th revenue office in Bangkok, to the Office of Attorney-General, with a recommendation that his ill-gotten assets should be seized.

She said anti-graft investigators had found out that Mr Suwat had received bribes from exporters in exchange for his services to claim VAT refunds for them causing serious damages to the state.

She disclosed that the ill-gotten gains earned from the exporters were hidden in several bank accounts of Mr Suwat, his family members, close relatives and some legal entities and were used to invest in real estate and the stock market.

The ill-gotten assets are already frozen by an order of the NACC but they are yet to be confiscated pending a court’s order.

Besides Mr Suwat the prime suspect, Ms Supa said that the probe team would dig deeper to find out who else were implicated in the fraud to seal from the Revenue Department.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/content/153071


-- Thai PBS 2016-03-02

[surangw]

and no one knew of this and she acted alone, right ?

[siliconvalley]

Wow.

Hold on a minute. If I understand this right.

1. Mr.Suwat got his 600 million from (let say) 1% VAT kickbacks?

If that's the case, he allowed 60 billion (is this number right) to go somewhere?

Impossible...Who in Thailand is balancing the books? Where did the money go?

Is Thailand just going to be satisfied only recovering 1%?

My oh my, What's next?

I hate to consider what is going to happen when the economics university students finally wake up.

[MaiChai]

Probably get a 500 baht fine. Lets just say justice will not be done.

Personally i think its impossible to rid Thailand of corruption; its too embedded in the culture and to alot of Thais its normal.

[rkidlad]

This guy is in big trouble. He will now face a long prison term with 'no suspension'. The kind where you don't actually go to prison.

He will also be fined nearly 100k for stealing 600 million and be put under pressure to quit his job.

Punishment will be served.

[doremifasol]

To change their corrupt mind setting someone must start from somewhere........

[selftaopath]

All corrupt officials and individuals have a blatant disregard or affection for the country or other citizens. They are selfish parasites who ought to be dealt harshly with. No leniency; NO pardons.

Turn this corrupt state around or continue watching the spiral downward.

[MZurf]

Well done! Now, hopefully they can go after others who have amassed conspicuous wealth while in public service.

Oh, wait.......

[robblok]

Well done! Now, hopefully they can go after others who have amassed conspicuous wealth while in public service.

Oh, wait.......

You can say what you want but during the Shin rule you almost saw no corruption cases like this being prosecuted. Now I have seen far more of those cases in a shorter period. Sure not everyone gets investigated but far more as before.. so in that area there is definite progress.

Now there is a good explanation why during YL there were less cases brought to court.. YL cut the NACC funding with 50%.. wonder why.. maybe afraid they would go after her friends who were corrupt.

Edited March 2, 2016 by robblok

[MZurf]

Well done! Now, hopefully they can go after others who have amassed conspicuous wealth while in public service.

Oh, wait.......

You can say what you want but during the Shin rule you almost saw no corruption cases like this being prosecuted. Now I have seen far more of those cases in a shorter period. Sure not everyone gets investigated but far more as before.. so in that area there is definite progress.

Now there is a good explanation why during YL there were less cases brought to court.. YL cut the NACC funding with 50%.. wonder why.. maybe afraid they would go after her friends who were corrupt.

The prosecutions you are referring to are used as a political tool, not to address systemic corruption. If they were at all serious about fighting corruption the junta would welcome scrutiny of their own finances instead of threatening people who ask questions about their conspicuous wealth. Simple as that.

Edited March 2, 2016 by MZurf

[gandalf12]

Wow.

Hold on a minute. If I understand this right.

1. Mr.Suwat got his 600 million from (let say) 1% VAT kickbacks?

If that's the case, he allowed 60 billion (is this number right) to go somewhere?

Impossible...Who in Thailand is balancing the books? Where did the money go?

Is Thailand just going to be satisfied only recovering 1%?

My oh my, What's next?

I hate to consider what is going to happen when the economics university students finally wake up.

Balance what books? Oh you mean Jack and the Beanstalk, I got it

[apetley]

and no one knew of this and she acted alone, right ?

If you bothered to read the article you would see that she is in fact a he and that the enquiry is ongoing to find out who else was involved.

[robblok]

Well done! Now, hopefully they can go after others who have amassed conspicuous wealth while in public service.

Oh, wait.......

You can say what you want but during the Shin rule you almost saw no corruption cases like this being prosecuted. Now I have seen far more of those cases in a shorter period. Sure not everyone gets investigated but far more as before.. so in that area there is definite progress.

Now there is a good explanation why during YL there were less cases brought to court.. YL cut the NACC funding with 50%.. wonder why.. maybe afraid they would go after her friends who were corrupt.

The prosecutions you are referring to are used as a political tool, not to address systemic corruption. If they were at all serious about fighting corruption the junta would welcome scrutiny of their own finances instead of threatening people who ask questions about their conspicuous wealth. Simple as that.

Do tell me the political allegiance of this guy before making such statements. Also 26.000 corruption cases would have been gone under the famed amnesty that brought the YL government down.

This junta might not be perfect but at least its going the right way.. not like YL cutting the funding of the anti corruption agency and putting 26.000 corruption cases under the amnesty. That is going the wrong way.

But I accept that your right they should also check themselves and like you I dont see that happening. But at least this is progress.

[MZurf]

Well done! Now, hopefully they can go after others who have amassed conspicuous wealth while in public service.

Oh, wait.......

You can say what you want but during the Shin rule you almost saw no corruption cases like this being prosecuted. Now I have seen far more of those cases in a shorter period. Sure not everyone gets investigated but far more as before.. so in that area there is definite progress.

Now there is a good explanation why during YL there were less cases brought to court.. YL cut the NACC funding with 50%.. wonder why.. maybe afraid they would go after her friends who were corrupt.

The prosecutions you are referring to are used as a political tool, not to address systemic corruption. If they were at all serious about fighting corruption the junta would welcome scrutiny of their own finances instead of threatening people who ask questions about their conspicuous wealth. Simple as that.

Do tell me the political allegiance of this guy before making such statements. Also 26.000 corruption cases would have been gone under the famed amnesty that brought the YL government down.

This junta might not be perfect but at least its going the right way.. not like YL cutting the funding of the anti corruption agency and putting 26.000 corruption cases under the amnesty. That is going the wrong way.

But I accept that your right they should also check themselves and like you I dont see that happening. But at least this is progress.

"This junta might not be perfect but at least its going the right way.."

I disagree. I think just about everything in Thailand is going the wrong way.

[ezzra]

And this is why, in this country, high ranking officials coveting top positions, pays tens of millions

of baht to secure those positions... which in turn, they get this investment back 10 folds....

this is the norm rather than the exception, and there's this huge cover up regarding this issue....

[scorecard]

and no one knew of this and she acted alone, right ?

If you bothered to read the article you would see that she is in fact a he and that the enquiry is ongoing to find out who else was involved.

Yes confusion whether the culprit is male or female, not helped by adding the investigators picture rather than the culprits' picture to the story line.

Where's the much discussed media reform?

Edited March 2, 2016 by scorecard

[robblok]

You can say what you want but during the Shin rule you almost saw no corruption cases like this being prosecuted. Now I have seen far more of those cases in a shorter period. Sure not everyone gets investigated but far more as before.. so in that area there is definite progress.

Now there is a good explanation why during YL there were less cases brought to court.. YL cut the NACC funding with 50%.. wonder why.. maybe afraid they would go after her friends who were corrupt.

The prosecutions you are referring to are used as a political tool, not to address systemic corruption. If they were at all serious about fighting corruption the junta would welcome scrutiny of their own finances instead of threatening people who ask questions about their conspicuous wealth. Simple as that.

Do tell me the political allegiance of this guy before making such statements. Also 26.000 corruption cases would have been gone under the famed amnesty that brought the YL government down.

This junta might not be perfect but at least its going the right way.. not like YL cutting the funding of the anti corruption agency and putting 26.000 corruption cases under the amnesty. That is going the wrong way.

But I accept that your right they should also check themselves and like you I dont see that happening. But at least this is progress.

"This junta might not be perfect but at least its going the right way.."

I disagree. I think just about everything in Thailand is going the wrong way.

I agree when its about freedoms and the single gateway.. but for prosecuting corruption its going the right way.

[scorecard]

And this is why, in this country, high ranking officials coveting top positions, pays tens of millions

of baht to secure those positions... which in turn, they get this investment back 10 folds....

this is the norm rather than the exception, and there's this huge cover up regarding this issue....

Which in turn means:

- Perpetuating that those at the top are highy corrupt.

- Perpetuating that those at the top are highly incapable, either within the subject area or broadly.

- Perpetuating that those at the top will never do anything creative or insightful.

- Perpetuating that those at the top have no interest in stopping corruption and en masse they can block attempts to stop corruption..

- Perpetuating that those at the top have no desire to move Thailand forward.

- And you can apply the same comment to the top of many ministries and agencies.

It's going to take a long time, and I hope people like Ms. Supa keep at it and don't get discouraged.

[jmccarty]

US$17m or so. Really not much compared to other cases that don't get pursued much past occasional mention in the press. What about that old car, that's a good one to focus on!

[tomacht8]

Mr Suwat Charumaneerote, a former revenue official attached to the 27th revenue office in Bangkok amassing 600 million baht in ill-gotten wealth.

Holy shit.
He must have indeed collected the money over years!
Are there no control mechanismen, cross-checks, revisions and independent audits in the tax authorities?

How many there are still out, which have accumulated unexplained wealth in their public offices through corruption, embezzlement and misappropriation.

That's scary as negligent as the officials deal with taxpayers' money.
The revenue office as a self-service shop, where every official can grab in.

In China, they execute those officers.

Edited March 2, 2016 by tomacht8

[MZurf]

And this is why, in this country, high ranking officials coveting top positions, pays tens of millions

of baht to secure those positions... which in turn, they get this investment back 10 folds....

this is the norm rather than the exception, and there's this huge cover up regarding this issue....

Which in turn means:

- Perpetuating that those at the top are highy corrupt.

- Perpetuating that those at the top are highly incapable, either within the subject area or broadly.

- Perpetuating that those at the top will never do anything creative or insightful.

- Perpetuating that those at the top have no interest in stopping corruption and en masse they can block attempts to stop corruption..

- Perpetuating that those at the top have no desire to move Thailand forward.

- And you can apply the same comment to the top of many ministries and agencies.

It's going to take a long time, and I hope people like Ms. Supa keep at it and don't get discouraged.

She's been discouraged already from looking into the finances of the junta.

[nikmar]

He'll get a job reading the news next.

[al007]

To eradicate this corruption, drastic measures are required like the death penalty, at present the rewards vs the risk are in favour of being corrupt

[Srikcir]

Well done! Now, hopefully they can go after others who have amassed conspicuous wealth while in public service.

Oh, wait.......

You can say what you want but during the Shin rule you almost saw no corruption cases like this being prosecuted. Now I have seen far more of those cases in a shorter period. Sure not everyone gets investigated but far more as before.. so in that area there is definite progress.

Now there is a good explanation why during YL there were less cases brought to court.. YL cut the NACC funding with 50%.. wonder why.. maybe afraid they would go after her friends who were corrupt.

YL cut the NACC funding with 50%

For the sake of accuracy, the NACC funding was controlled by the Parliament and not by the Executive Branch under PM Yingluck. Under the now abolished 2007 Constitution, Chapter XI, Part 1 "Independent Organizations", Number 3, Article 251 The Office of the National Counter Corruption Commission shall have autonomy in its … budget …”

So Yingluck did not cut NACC's FY2013 funding. The PTP controlled Parliament did cut NACC's proposed budget to 60% of its previous budget for a 40% cut.

With the walkout of the Democrat Party from parliament and the dissolution of parliament for new elections in 2013, I don't believe a FY2014 budget was passed. EC essentially became the budget authority and I find no mention of NACC's funding being restored to or increased above FY 2012 levels. Similarly for FY 2015 and FY 2016 budgets when the Junta-appointed National Legislative Assembly took over the Parliament. So even after the military coup the NACC might still being operating under its FY 2013 budget. (I appreciate any correction on this matter including references)

As a consequence of the Prayut May 2014 coup, the NACC was subjected to the monitoring and evaluation by the Junta-appointed National Reform Council. The NRC has the authority to dissolve or restructure the NACC. (The Nation 2015-02-06) So much for NACC "independence."

[MyFriend You]

Why are they showing HER picture instead of HIS..............HE is the one that stole the money, SHE is the one that is catching him - at least thats how I read it. then again, I haven't had my 2d Cupa so could be wrong.

[robblok]

Well done! Now, hopefully they can go after others who have amassed conspicuous wealth while in public service.

Oh, wait.......

You can say what you want but during the Shin rule you almost saw no corruption cases like this being prosecuted. Now I have seen far more of those cases in a shorter period. Sure not everyone gets investigated but far more as before.. so in that area there is definite progress.

Now there is a good explanation why during YL there were less cases brought to court.. YL cut the NACC funding with 50%.. wonder why.. maybe afraid they would go after her friends who were corrupt.

YL cut the NACC funding with 50%

For the sake of accuracy, the NACC funding was controlled by the Parliament and not by the Executive Branch under PM Yingluck. Under the now abolished 2007 Constitution, Chapter XI, Part 1 "Independent Organizations", Number 3, Article 251 The Office of the National Counter Corruption Commission shall have autonomy in its … budget …”

So Yingluck did not cut NACC's FY2013 funding. The PTP controlled Parliament did cut NACC's proposed budget to 60% of its previous budget for a 40% cut.

With the walkout of the Democrat Party from parliament and the dissolution of parliament for new elections in 2013, I don't believe a FY2014 budget was passed. EC essentially became the budget authority and I find no mention of NACC's funding being restored to or increased above FY 2012 levels. Similarly for FY 2015 and FY 2016 budgets when the Junta-appointed National Legislative Assembly took over the Parliament. So even after the military coup the NACC might still being operating under its FY 2013 budget. (I appreciate any correction on this matter including references)

As a consequence of the Prayut May 2014 coup, the NACC was subjected to the monitoring and evaluation by the Junta-appointed National Reform Council. The NRC has the authority to dissolve or restructure the NACC. (The Nation 2015-02-06) So much for NACC "independence."

Here a reference to the JUNTA upping the budget. And PTP did cut the NACC budget by 40% then.. and PTP was YL led.. so semantics.. had not expected anything different from you.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/archive/nacc-gets-17-8-budget-increase/423625

[thaiduncankk]

In his mind he only did one thing wrong..............

He got caught.

[TPI]

This guy is in big trouble. He will now face a long prison term with 'no suspension'. The kind where you don't actually go to prison.

He will also be fined nearly 100k for stealing 600 million and be put under pressure to quit his job.

Punishment will be served.

I think your punishment is quite severe, I don't think he'll be pressured to quit his job as he's the only one who knows where the cheque book is!

[GAZZPA]

Probably get a 500 baht fine. Lets just say justice will not be done.

Personally i think its impossible to rid Thailand of corruption; its too embedded in the culture and to alot of Thais its normal.

They said that about Hong Kong and China,, Hong Kong is now pretty clean and China is making serious progress. It will take time for sure but a few heads rolling and a serious clamp down on personal assets like this will get attention. if people start getting banged up for high level corruption then the low level stuff will start to diminish as well,, at least thats what i believe..

[PattayaAl]

Do not know why so many want to be cops or somewhere in the government role, Revenue department is way to go, 600 000 000 , is no laughing matter