Prosecutors eye new case against Sorrayuth
PUBLIC PROSECUTORS will decide next week if another criminal case should be filed against former popular TV news show host Sorrayuth Suthassanachinda and others for alleged fraud and forgery related to advertising on state-owned TV Channel 9.
The court has already sentenced Sorrayuth and Montha Thiradej of Rai Som Co to 13 years and four months in jail each, while Pichapa Eam-sa-ard, a former Mass Communication Organisation of Thailand (MCOT) official, got 20 years in jail for causing Bt138 million in damages to the state. She had allegedly agreed to extend the airing time of TV commercials from what was initially agreed upon in the contract between MCOT and Rai Som.
Police handed over another criminal case related to fraud and document forgery to public prosecutors yesterday, leaving it to them to decide if the case should be pursued.
Senior public prosecutor Porames Indarachumchon said a seven-strong panel will be appointed to evaluate the police proposal.
Meanwhile, Pichapa’s lawyer said a letter had been sent to public prosecutors pointing out that this case would be redundant as it was a repeat of the charges for which the court has already handed out jail terms.
Porames said Sorrayuth and others would be informed of the prosecutors’ decision on June 2, while the panel would start working on the case today.
As per the court verdict on February 29, Sorrayuth, Montha and Pichapa were found guilty of fraudulent acts and document forgery by airing during the popular TV news shows for a longer time than agreed upon in the contract between MCOT and Rai Som in 2005 and 2006.
The court found that the defendants had changed details of the contract to allow more ads during the news shows without informing MCOT.
All defendants were sentenced to jail without probation and released on bail while they seek a review in the Appeals Court.
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