Surachate to be probed by NACC in Minnie gambling case
The National Anti-Corruption Commission decided on Monday to conduct a probe into deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn and four other police officers for allegedly accepting bribes from a gambling website.
The NACC held a meeting to consider the case submitted by the Anti-Corruption Division, which asked the NACC to conduct a probe into Surachate, better known as Big Joke, on charges of dereliction of duty in violation of Article 157 of the Criminal Code.
The police division accused Surachate and four other police officers, who are his close aides, of having received money from a gambling website operated by Thanyanan Sucharitchinsri, known as Minnie, to turn a blind eye to the illegal gambling operation.
A source from the NACC Office said the five NACC commissioners agreed to accept the complaint from the division for further investigation. The NACC normally has 9 commissioners but four of them have completed their tenure, leaving just five in office for now. They are NACC chairman Watcharapol Prasarnratchakij, Witthaya Arkhompithak, Suwanna Suwanjutha, Surachart Trakulkasemsuk and Ekkawit Watchawalku.
The police division investigated two cases involving the online gambling site. The first case dealt with alleged dereliction of duty allegedly by Surachate and his aides.
In the second case, 61 other policemen and civilians were accused of collaborating to operate a gambling website, causing some 300 million baht worth of damage to the public.
