Judge faces death penalty

A National Counter Cor-ruption Commission committee found that Praman Teeya-phaiboolsin, when he was the director-general of the Legal Excise Department in 1994, had called a meeting of dpartment officials and issued an order to return a Bt70-million court fee to a real-estate firm that bought a Bt987-million plot of land in Pathum Thani province.

NCCC spokesman Klana-rong Janthuek said Praman's order was unlawful and that the NCCC had found that Praman later received Bt432,825 in cash from a department deputy director-general as a reward for his role in getting the fee returned to the firm.

Klanarong said the un-named deputy director-general also received 10,000 shares in the firm, which was a public company, and later sold the stake for Bt865,650.

The NCCC also found that the Bt70 million was later transferred to a personal bank account of the chairman of the firm.

The NCCC board agreed to indict Praman, who was once the chief justice of the Thon Buri Civil Court, on the three charges.

It will later hand over the case to the Justice Commis-sion for further disciplinary action, then to public prosecutors for criminal prosecution.