Joint panel to examine legal points in bribery case against Wattana 

Joint panel to examine legal points in bribery case against Wattana 

By The Nation

Wattana Muangsook

BANGKOK: -- The National Anti-Corruption Commission on Wednesday said a joint committee comprising the NACC and the Office of the Attorney-General had been set up to look into contentious points in the case of alleged bribery against former Pheu Thai figure Wattana Muangsook over the Baan Eua-Arthorn housing project for the poor.

The NACC concluded early this year to charge Wattana with violation of the criminal code’s Article 148 and 149 and committing malfeasance while on duty. The penalties imposed range from a five-year jail term to execution, or a fine of up to Bt40,000.

However, a high-level source said though the NACC had submitted its resolution to the Attorney-General, the state prosecutors wanted to hold further discussions between the two agencies over some legal interpretations hence a joint committee has been set up.

Wattana was investigated by the Assets Examination Committee (AEC) after the military coup in 2006, as part of probe into key state projects of the Thaksin Shinawatra government.

The Baan Eua-Athorn housing project, with 7,500 house units planned and a Bt2.5-billion budget, was among the cases. 

The AEC initially found some irregularities in the project, but as its term ended it passed on the investigation to the NACC, which worked on the case before reaching a conclusion.

The NACC, meanwhile, said the agency might call Democrat Party former MP Wittaya Kaewparadai to share information regarding alleged irregularities in the appointments of high-ranking police officers exposed by him.

NACC secretary-general Sansern Poljiak said this could be done although Wittaya is not yet an informant in the case. The issue has now been under the spotlight and the NACC could conduct a secret probe into it, he added.

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