Chalor gets 20 years for extortion
Officers escort Lt-General Chalor Kerdthet into Ratchada Criminal Court yesterday where the former policeman was convicted of extorting money.
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Former police commissioner Chalor Kerdthet, was sentenced to 20 years in jail by Ratchada Criminal Court yesterday for extorting money from a jewellery trader who bought treasures stolen from the Saudi royal family 13 years ago.
The court found Lt-General Chalor guilty of demanding Bt3 million from jewellery trader Surasak Sirikul to help him escape legal action for having bought stolen jewellery from Thai worker Kriangkrai Tejamong. Kriangkrai stole jewellery worth Bt500 million from a Saudi prince in 1989 before fleeing to Thailand and later selling some items to Surasak. A team investigating the Saudi case, headed by Chalor, retrieved the jewellery from Surasak and demanded a bribe in exchange for helping him avoid legal action. Chalor has already been sentenced to death by the Appeals Court for his role in a related case concerning the 1994 abduction and murder of Darawadi and Seri Srithanakhan, the wife and son of another jewellery trader involved in the case, Santi Srithanakhan. Kriangkrai was convicted of theft and sentenced to five years in prison, and Santi was given three years in prison for receiving stolen items. Yesterday the court delivered its verdict on the lawsuit filed in July 1993. The charges against Chalor and eight of his accomplices included abuse of duty, embezzling several items of jewellery and failing to turn over evidence to the authorities. Two defendants were absent from the court, Major Thani Sidokbuab, who is still at large, and Surajit Chaisiri who died in 2004. On the embezzlement charge, investigators said Chalor had returned the evidence but later than the procedure required. The court felt Chalor had no intention to keep the evidence for his own benefit and did not tarnish the police image. Defendants Colonel Prasert Chantarapipat, Sgt-Major Teng Tippalawong, Sgt-Major Sanit Kawicha and Sgt-Major Sawek Kanthama were acquitted of extorting and embezzling property on the grounds of insufficient evidence. Another defendant, Captain Ritthisart Kaewdej, was sentenced to four years and eight months in jail for withholding evidence. The court also ordered that Bt200,000 in cash and nine items used as evidence in the investigation be returned to their legitimate owners. Kesinee Taengkhiew The Nation
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