Arrest warrant issued for ex-minister Pracha
Kesinee Taengkhieo
Thanatpong Kongsai
Anupan Chantana
The Nation September 11, 2013 1:00 am
Court acquits apirak and exministers bhokin, Watana in fire vehicles case
FORMER DEPUTY interior minister Pracha Maleenont was yesterday sentenced in absentia to a 12-year prison term on graft charges for his involvement in the Bt6.68-billion procurement of a huge fleet of fire-fighting vehicles for the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration in 2004.
A senior BMA official was also found guilty of similar offences under an act against bid rigging on government projects.
The Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political Positions voted in its final ruling to dismiss similar charges against then interior minister Bhokin Bhalakula, then commerce minister Watana Muangsook and then Bangkok governor Apirak Kosayodhin for insufficient evidence.
Samak Sundaravej, who preceded Apirak as Bangkok governor, was also indicted by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), but he died in 2009.
The justices, reading the guilty verdict in the absence of Pracha and Athilak Tanchookiat, who was sentenced to 10 years, said they found that the two men jointly violated Articles 12 and 13 of the 1999 law regulating purchasing procedures, following |their efforts to award the contract to |Austrian manufacturer Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeug AG & Co KG, without allowing other tenders.
Pracha, who oversaw BMA affairs at the time of the purchase, and Athilak were instrumental in activating a special purchase process meant to benefit Steyr-Daimler-Puch, the court found.
"This is against the principle of fair competition and transparent bidding, besides violating the law," the ruling said.
Arrest warrants have been issued for Pracha and Athilak, the second and fourth defendants, for missing yesterday's verdict. Pracha did not attend last month's session, so the court rescheduled the verdict and sentencing to yesterday. The court forfeited Pracha's Bt2-million bail.
Athilak was a police major-general who served as head of the BMA's Fire and Rescue Department at the time of the purchase.
The justices said the Bt6.68 billion paid to Steyr-Daimler-Puch was 48.77 per cent higher than the reference cost under the purchasing criteria of the Interior Ministry's Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation for locally assembled vehicles and equipment of identical specifications.
Yesterday's ruling is another landmark decision against corrupt politicians. Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Vatana Asavahame were convicted for conflict of interest and corruption, respectively, and have fled overseas.
The 315 small and large fire engines and 30 fire-fighting boats are still parked unused at Bangkok Port and Laem Chabang seaport in Chon Buri after their shipment to Thailand, even though the BMA finished paying the
Bt6.68-billion project bill in nine instalments. The vehicles have been seized as evidence for the NACC's criminal investigation.
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Sitthichoke Sricharoen, the key NACC prosecutor, said the court's issuance of an arrest warrant for Pracha in particular was lawful, because he failed to explain the reason for his second absence yesterday.
Sitthichoke said he had learned that Pracha had obtained court approval for travel to Hong Kong and Macau on July 31, with a promise to return to Thailand on August 6, when the court set the first verdict session.
"I personally believe that Pracha will not return to Thailand, and may now be in Europe or the US, and that he will not be arrested, although the legal period to enforce the arrest is 10 years," he said.
Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra said the BMA's legal team was seeking through arbitration to get the Bt6.68 billion refunded from Steyr-Daimler-Puch. He declined to comment on yesterday's ruling, saying that his statements could affect or influence the arbitration process. Apirak, now a Democrat Party MP, said he thanked the court and was monitoring legal action against him and all other defendants for their joint acts that resulted in all the fire equipment being seized and remaining unused. He also declined to comment on yesterday's ruling or his political future.
NACC member Vicha Mahakhun said the NACC had done its best on the three acquittals and that it was waiting to see both Pracha and Athilak brought to justice.
