A group of people affected by the multi-billion-baht Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative (KCUC) embezzlement scandal has urged the cabinet to approve an urgent 10-billion-baht loan request to fund a debt rehabilitation plan for the stricken cooperative.
The group, comprising about 50 cooperative members, lodged a petition Thursday with the Office of the Permanent Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office.
The Central Bankruptcy Court has ordered debt rehabilitation as part of efforts to help 56,595 creditors affected by the embezzlement of 12 billion baht from the cooperative's funds. The KCUC cited liabilities of 21.9 billion baht for the proposed rehabilitation.
According to the group, the KCUC was ordered by the court to seek a 10-billion-baht loan from state agencies to fund the rehab plan. However, three months had passed and the government has made no response, it says. As well as KCUC members, about 74 other cooperatives with more than 300,000 members were KCUC creditors. They too are now being affected by the KCUC scandal, it added.
These cooperatives have not received any repayments for three years now. About 674 million baht in donations received from Wat Phra Dhammakaya supporters, after the temple was linked to the scandal, is still being withheld by the Anti-Money Laundering Office, the group said.
PM's Office Minister Panadda Diskul said he would call an urgent meeting with the Cooperative Promotion Department. He said he was concerned KCUC's problem could have a domino effect on other affected cooperatives.
