Major crackdown on corruption

Officers from the Crime Suppression Division yesterday conduct a search of Ruamnakhon Thabthimthongchai's home in Nonthaburi for evidence in a major corruption scandal.

The raids followed a complaint recently lodged with the Police Internal Affairs Division against Car Tracking - the company that was awarded a Bt1.14billion contract to provide the police force with 19,147 Tigerbrand motorcycles. The division discovered that the claim in the company's bidding documents that it owned 104 dealerships and repair shops across the country was false.

Police officers first visited senior Finance Ministry official, Banthoon Suphakkhawanich's home in Nonthaburi, to summon him as a witness after evidence showed that the ministry's Budget Bureau had liased with the Royal Thai Police as part of the normal budgetapproval procedure.

A second CSD team visited policemanturnedtycoon Ruamnakhon Thabthimthongchai's luxurious home in Nonthaburi. Ruamnakhon is also CEO of RNT Television.

Two people answered the door but did not let the officers in until an hour later, when the team leader contacted the provincial police chief and learned that Ruamnakhon was inside.

Ruamnakhon eventually agreed to cooperate on condition that the CSD team only conduct the search in the presence of local police officers. A number of documents were seized, and several others were photographed.

On the same day, a third team visited the Millennium Motors plant in Samut Prakan's Muang district where the Tigerbrand motorcycles are produced.

The last raid was conducted at Isuzu Siam City on Soi Lat Phrao 21, in Bangkok's Chatuchak district, where staff members were found shredding documents and police seized 13 boxes of docu¬ments as well as six computers.

During the raids, the CSD police officers kept receiving phone calls reportedly from a senior policeman asking them not to seize certain documents. The officers ignored the request.

Caretaker national police chief Pol General Patheep Tanprasert said the raids and investigation into the motorcycle contract were either politically motivated or had something to do with former police chief Patcharawat Wongsuwan.

Pol MajGeneral Phongphat Chayaphan, who led the operation, said the case involved bid rigging that officials from various govern¬ment agencies had taken part in through concealed businesses and nomination. Initial evidence also found that Car Tracking was just a front.

Apart from Banthoon, Phongphat said the CSD had also sum¬moned Pranee Sukkarasorn, acting director of the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority, for questioning on December 2, because evidence showed that the entire corruption process may also involve the recently scrapped Transport Ministry plan to purchase 4,000 NGVpowered city buses.