Khon Kaen centre graft probe on hold

Khon Kaen centre graft probe on hold

The investigation into alleged embezzlement of state funds earmarked for the underprivileged in Khon Kaen has been put on hold as investigators have had trouble gathering evidence before they begin questioning people of interest.

Thongsuk Na Pol, a senior investigator attached to the Office of Anti-Corruption in Public Sector (PACC) Area 4 in Khon Kaen, revealed the delay Wednesday, a day after he said his team would question about 2,000 villagers in Khon Kaen whose names appeared on receipts obtained by the PACC. He said the office's planned visit to question those villagers had to be put on hold until the office receives all required documents.

The team is waiting for the original version of the welfare money payment receipts it now has in hand, to ensure the information it has obtained from the copied version of the receipts is correct, he said.

"What still are missing are the original receipts we've requested from the [Khon Kaen] centre's director who said the centre had already gathered the requested documents but still is in a process of verifying them," he said. The centre claimed it had to ensure the retrieved original receipts correspond with the copies of them, which the PACC now has, he said.

The state fund embezzlement scandal at the Khon Kaen Protection for the Destitute -- an agency that helps the underprivileged and HIV patients under the supervision of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security -- came to light after Panida Yotpanya, 22, a social science student at Maha Sarakham University, and three friends lodged a complaint with the National Council for Peace and Order after interning at the Khon Kaen centre.

The students, who attended job training there last year, said they were ordered by centre director Phuangphayom Chitkhom and other senior officials to fill in forms and sign receipts in the names of 2,000 villagers worth nearly 7 million baht.

The PACC's initial probe found there were sufficient grounds to set up a full investigation. Five other state officials at the Khon Kaen centre were also implicated in the scandal.

The PACC has now zeroed in on 37 out of 70 welfare centres across the country suspected of embezzlement, following the Khon Kaen centre scandal.

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