Suriya orders probe into US allegations of bribe-taking by Thai officials
US SEC names company that allegedly engaged in bribery
Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit has instructed two departments in charge of road construction to investigate whether their senior officials had taken bribes as alleged by US authorities.
Suriya said on Sunday that he had instructed all concerned agencies to gather all the information and report the findings to him. The minister clarified that the alleged bribe had not happened now but in the past, so it would take time to gather the information.
Suriya was commenting on reports by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that alleged Wirtgen Thailand, a subsidiary of Deere & Company, was involved in bribing Thai government officials for contracts.
The US SEC alleged that Wirtgen Thailand had paid bribes to secure government contracts in the Highways Department and Rural Roads Department. The US SEC said since the firm is a subsidiary of Deere, the parent company was also implicated in the scandal.
Meanwhile, Sarawut Songsivilai, director-general of the Highways Department, said he had assigned his deputy and heads of divisions and offices under the department to investigate the alleged bribe-taking.
Although the reports said the firm had paid bribes from 2017 to 2020, Sarawut said he had ordered a probe for 10 years backwards.
He said he had asked for verification on whether his department had bought the machines from Wirtgen Thailand and its parent firm during the past 10 years. The report must have details of which equipment was bought in which year.
Sarawut said the department would also check whether its officials had been paid by the firm to make foreign trips as alleged.
If certain officials were found implicated in the alleged bribe-taking, a fact-finding panel would be set up to investigate them before a disciplinary process would be initiated against them, Sarawut added.
