The UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) will only give information on bribes which Rolls-Royce paid to corrupt Thai officials to the National Anti Corruption Commission (NACC), Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam says.
Mr Wissanu said yesterday the UK's anti-graft authority previously raised concerns about requests coming in from various Thai agencies for details of the case. Currently, it has cleared staff to provide the information only to the NACC.
The SFO, however, does not wish to disclose many more details as a criminal case in a UK court related to the Rolls Royce bribery scandal has yet to conclude. Disclosing some sensitive information might jeopardise the case.
In addition, the SFO has hesitated in giving in-depth information to Thailand as the death sentence is the maximum penalty for corrupt officials.
National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) secretary-general Sansern Poljeak said the NACC will send details of what the agencies want to know to the SFO this week. He said the NACC would not disclose any more details of the case to the media or the public as requested by the SFO.
Mr Sansern admitted the information received from THAI did not identify anyone who took bribes from Rolls-Royce. It is only a list of those responsible for procurement during the period in which the airline bought engines from the British company.
The bribes occurred over three periods. The first was from June 1, 1991 to June 30, 1992. Rolls-Royce agreed to pay US$18.8 million (660 million baht).
The second was from March 1, 1992, to March 31, 1997, when Rolls-Royce agreed to pay $10.38 million to intermediaries.
The third was from April 1, 2004 to Feb 28, 2005, when almost $7.2 million was paid to intermediaries.