It took only three months for police to bring the 1.474-billion baht embezzlement at King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang to the Min Buri provincial court.
Charges against a total of 14 suspects, including former KMITL rector, professor Thawil Phuengma and businessman Kittisak Matthujad, are milestones in the case which was lodged with the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) on Dec 16 last year.
The CSD, together with the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo), have narrowed their list of suspects and are edging closer to the man known as the "boss" who is suspected of masterminding the plot to siphon off money.
Though there is still much work to be done to discern the ringleader's identity and track down three remaining suspects, the investigation team has already shaken the core of the criminal network, secretly run behind the prestigious education institution in eastern Bangkok. The suspects are scheduled to testify in court on June 22.
Nobody expected such a huge financial scandal to befall the KMITL. The first sign of trouble emerged when the famous institute for would-be engineers sought the CSD's help, after discovering 80 million baht had disappeared from its Siam Commercial Bank account at the Big C Suwinthawong branch.
A institute lawyer assigned by KMITL rector Assoc Prof Monai Krairiksh told police in December about the missing money.
Acting CSD chief Pol Col Akkharadet Phimonsi then launched a probe which questioned a wide range of suspects, ranging from scholars and state employees to a leading actress and actor.
The initial investigation led by the CSD implicated Amporn Noisamrit, head of the KMITL's financial division, and Songklod Sriprasong, former manager of the Bank of Ayudhya's Big C Srinakarin branch, for their involvement in the scandal.
According to the investigation, Ms Amporn asked the KMITL on Oct 1 last year to withdraw 50 million baht from an account at the Bank of Ayudhya to buy a cashier's cheque and deposit it with the institute's bank account at Ayudhya's Big C Srinakarin branch, where Mr Songklod was a branch manager. She later withdrew 30 million baht from the institute's account at Krung Thai's Lat Krabang industrial estate branch and deposited it with the bank branch where Mr Songklod was working.
The investigation found transaction records at Ayudhya's Big C Srinakarin branch were made up to deceive the institute into believing the 80 million baht was still in the Ayudhya bank.
However, police found the money was withdrawn from the Ayudhya bank and moved to the institute's Siam Commercial Bank account at Big C Suwinthawong, and the money again withdrawn from the Siam Commercial Bank account by Ms Amporn.
On Dec 23 officers arrested Mr Songklod and Ms Amporn who was being treated in hospital for an illness. While the woman stayed tight-lipped, Mr Songklod implicated four other suspects including Poonsak Boonsawasdi, a post-graduate student.
Mr Songklod's evidence and police tracking of the money trail led officers to a crucial piece of information the following day. They found Mr Poonsak was the owner of a bank account with the missing 80 million baht. On Dec 25, Mr Poonsak reported to the CSD. He admitted he owned the account, but told police a "friend" ask him to open the account before transferring some of the money to other accounts.
Meanwhile, a further investigation into the KMITL's transactions with Siam Commercial Bank since 2012 found 29 withdrawals from its bank accounts worth nearly one billion baht.
After digging further, police named three more suspects: Jirawat Sahaporn-udomkarn, Sombat Sopradit and Kittisak Matthujad, who were accused of receiving some of the money.
In late December last year, investigators found Mr Jirawat's father, Sompong, and Ms Sombat's daughter, Janjira, were also linked to the embezzlement scam. They said Mr Sompong received a money transfer worth 44 million baht while Ms Janjira received 40 million baht. Ms Sombat and her daughter admitted they received money from Mr Kittisak, who was not in Thailand during the investigation. He left the country for Hong Kong on Dec 23.
Mr Kittisak runs a group of seven companies, owns assets worth about 700 million baht and sold three luxury cars which they believe were linked to attempts to launder money, according to the investigation.
One of the cars, a Lamborghini, was sold to actor Pakorn "Boy" Chatborirak for 13.5 million baht just two months after its purchase. The car was seized by the Anti-Money Laundering Office but authorities found Boy had no involvement in the case.
Actress Sawika "Pinky" Chaiyadech was also implicated after she was found holding shares in KPP Production Co, one of Mr Kittisak's companies.
However, police discovered she was persuaded to join the business but never became involved in running the company.
Many witnesses told interrogators they often heard Mr Kittisak talking to a man on phone whom he called "boss". Police wanted to talk to Mr Kittisak, but they found he had since left Hong Kong for Britain. They have contacted Interpol to track him down and send him back to stand trial in Thailand.
On Jan 9, the Min Buri provincial court approved warrants for the arrest of Mr Kittisak's close aide Phada Buakhao and Thawatchai Yimcharoen. Said to enjoy a luxury lifestyle, Mr Phada admitted he took care of Mr Kittisak's assets but said he had nothing to do with the embezzlement.
On Feb 24, the CSD filed charges against former KMITL rector Thawil Phuengma who was found to have closed bank accounts with the KMITL after he left the job.
Police also accused former deputy rector of financial affairs Sappasit Limnorarat and Sarut Ratchaburi, who teaches at the institute, of being involved. Investigators hope to bring Mr Kittisak back for prosecution. Meanwhile, they plan to press on with the case launched against the 14 suspects identified so far.