Latest Development:

July 17:  The chairman of a panel probing rubber-sapling purchases, Banjerd Singkaneti, said 48 people, including Thaksin, had submitted defences to the charges. Another 42 were yet to appear to hear the allegations.

March 2: Former deputy prime minister Suwat Liptapanlop and former defence minister Thamarak Isarangura were implicated in the rubber saplings corruption scandal, a source said yesterday.
Suwat and Thamarak are among 70 people suspected of being involved in irregularities in the project by the former government to buy rubber saplings for farmers, the source at the Assets Examination Committee (AEC) said.

 Of the 70 people accused, 30 have replied that they did not object to the appointment of an investigative committee to probe the scam.

 Former agriculture minister Newin Chidchob, who is among the 70 suspects, has not exercised his right to object to the appointment.

January 28: An AEC subcommittee investigating graft in a rubber-sapling programme said that the Office of the Rubber Replanting Aid Fund (ORRAF) failed to lodge a complaint on Friday against any former political office holder.

- January 22: Office of Rubber Replanting Aid Fund (ORRAF) refused to lodge a complaint as suggested by the AEC, but opted to seek legal interpretation by the Office of Attorney General as to whether it had the right to lodge the complaint with the suspects in the rubber saplings project.

- January 15: An Assets Examination Committee subcommittee has established grounds to accuse both Newin and Chakan of fixing specifications in favour of CP Seeds.
The AEC is expected to set up a panel to question Newin and Chakan and the company on January 15 when it receives the findings from the subcommittee, before filing formal charges against them. The investigation will be wrapped up this month.

Background:
Initiated in 2004 by then deputy Agriculture and Cooperatives minister Newin Chidchob, the scheme was meant to generate income for farmers in the North and Northeast.
The Agriculture Department contracted Charoen Pokphand Seeds to produce 90 million saplings over three years from 2004 to 2006.
Irregularities came to light when farmers complained about the poor quality of the saplings, a million of which were reportedly dead on delivery.
The Bt1.4billion project was also marred by the delayed delivery of the saplings. CP Seeds has yet to deliver 16 million saplings.

Key evidence :
The inquiry found there had been irregularities in the bidding process as three bidders had not even been eligible to bid. The team has questioned 45 witnesses and made field trips. Investigators are now tracing the spending of the project’s budget.

Key suspects and the charges:
Newin and former deputy agriculture permanent secretary Chakan Saengraksawong, are accused of fixing specifications in favour of CP Seeds.
Newin was supervising the Department of Agriculture, which was in charge of the sapling distribution project when Chakan was department chief.