Rice millers to be charged over pledging scheme
THE OFFICE of the Attorney-General has resolved to sue seven executives of four rice mills accused of supporting an alleged “irregularity” involving the previous government’s rice-pledging subsidy programme.
Public prosecutors yesterday filed their petition with the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders against the private-company executives. They were alleged to have collaborated with former commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom in a rice deal that was claimed to be between the Thai and Chinese governments.
The seven executives bought rice from government stocks, supposedly to be delivered to China. However, it is alleged that the rice was circulated in the Thai market, deputy attorney-general Chutichai Sakhakorn told a press conference yesterday.
“Public prosecutors will produce evidence to the judges and the public to prove that damage was done and that there was irregularity involving the four contracts,” he said.
The deputy attorney-general identified the rice mills as Kit Thawee Yasothon, Kit Thawee Yasothon Rice, KMC Inter Rice (2002), and Chia Meng. The prosecutors also submitted with their petition 300 boxes of evidence, consisting on 2,280 files of documents containing 85,990 pages.
Chutichai said public prosecutors had asked the court to include their additional petition against the seven Thai executives in the original case against Boonsong and 21 others.
“The additional petition aims at showing that state authorities and private-sector executives worked together in the irregularity in a systematic way,” he said.
The additional petition was approved by Attorney-General Pongniwat Yuthaphanboriparn.
The supposed government-to-government rice deal was made between the Commerce Ministry and China’s Guangdong Stationery and Sporting Goods Imports and Exports Corp.
The public prosecutors have yet to sue seven Chinese entities and individuals involved in the allegedly phoney rice deal, as they need to collect more conclusive evidence, the senior prosecutor said.
He said the prosecutors still had time to bring the Chinese nationals involved under the Thai justice system, adding that this case’s statute of limitations was 20 years.
At the same press conference, deputy attorney-general Kitinun Thatchapramuk said the prosecutors had no concerns about the case, as they had ample time to build it against the defendants.
In a related development, the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders is scheduled to begin tomorrow its first hearing of witnesses in a separate case against former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, also in connection with the rice-pledging scheme.
Yingluck is required to show up at the trial. She has said that she will attend it.
The prosecution’s witnesses are Nipon Puapongsakorn from the Thailand Development and Research Institute and deputy auditor-general Prachak Boonyoung.
