The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has been asked by police in the UK to testify against a British company accused of providing Thailand with useless bomb detectors.
The case involves Comstrac Co Ltd, which is accused of fraud in connection with the manufacture, promotion and sale of GT200 and Alpha 6 bomb detecting equipment.
Pol Lt Col Pong-in Intarakhao, director of the Security Crime Bureau, said British police have asked the DSI to testify about the false technology and the damage it has caused to the country. A hearing is tentatively scheduled during March-April next year, he said.
Pol Lt Col Pong-in was speaking after yesterday's meeting with British police responsible for the fraud case against Comstrac.
None of the countries which bought the device have filed a complaint against the company, he said. About 20 countries were reportedly "duped" into buying the devices.
City of London Police's Overseas Anti-Corruption Unit has charged six Britons with fraud in connection with the manufacture, promotion and sale of the device to foreign jurisdictions between Jan 15, 2007 and July 12, 2012.
In January 2010, the UK government banned the export of the GT200 and the Alpha 6 to Iraq and Afghanistan, warning that they were "wholly ineffective" at detecting explosives.
Comstrac set up two companies with three subsidiaries to distribute the detectors in Thailand. A total of 1,576 units were purchased by 14 agencies with the army being the biggest purchaser of the device. Most of the bomb detectors were deployed in the violence-plagued southernmost provinces.
Pol Lt Col Pong-in said the DSI has received documents from British authorities showing that the GT200 and Alpha 6 are ineffective in detecting explosives.
The findings match the result of the tests conducted locally.
"The conclusion is that GT200 and Alpha 6 can't detect explosives and narcotics as claimed by the manufacturer," he said.