AEC panel to ask for prosecution of housing officials
Assets Examination Committee (AEC) secretary Kaewsan Atibhodi tomorrow will recommend it charge a former National Housing Authority (NHA) governor and four finance officers with malfeasance.
The alleged offences are in connection with a housing project for low income-earners, a source said yesterday. An AEC subcommittee led by Kaewsan probing corruption in the Ban Ua Athorn project accused former NHA governor Chuanpit Chaimuanwong and five finance officers of nepotism. It alleged the accused paid Deva Property Bt435 million more than the actual construction cost and land price of the Ban Ua Athorn Romklao-Bang Phli project. The source said the subcommittee accused Chuanpit and the finance officers of criminal offences in the sale of NHA land to a Deva subsidiary for Bt190 million more than it was worth. The NHA allegedly used the profit from the inflated land sale to pay Bt52 million in staff bonuses. The finance officers were accused of not taking action against Deva for issuing bad cheques for the NHA land purchase. "In a normal transaction the company must pay the NHA for the land first. But, the subcommittee found the NHA paid Bt500 million in two cheques for the land. "It then covered up the fact that Deva issued dud cheques to the NHA," the source said. The NHA allowed Deva to increase prices for 7,000 houses from Bt415,000 to Bt420,000 - or Bt35 million. As a result the NHA paid Bt435 million more than it should have, the source added.
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