The Office of the Ombudsman lodged a complaint with the Administrative Court Monday demanding PTT Plc return all gas pipelines to the state.
The Ombudsman accused PTT Plc, and 10 other defendants, of not returning offshore natural gas pipelines to the state after the Supreme Administrative Court ordered the oil and gas conglomerate to return the pipelines and several land plots to the state in 2007. The company failed to comply with the court's ruling and only gave back part of the state property, Siracha Vongsarayankura, Chief Ombudsman, said Monday.
The suit targets 11 defendants, including PTT Plc, the Ministries of Finance and Energy, former ministers Piyasvasti Amranand, Wanarat Channukul, Korn Chatikavanij and former PTT Plc head Prasert Bunsumpun. The ombudsman did not disclose the names of the other four defendants.
The Office of the Ombudsman launched a probe in 2012, after the Administrative Court dismissed a petition by activists complaining about the matter.
The court dismissed the petition, arguing the activists were not directly affected by the case.
Mr Siracha said the pipelines are national assets and were laid out by the state before the firm was partially privatised in 2001.
According to the Ombudsman, PTT Plc has only returned three large pipelines and a few other smaller structures, worth approximately 16.2 billion baht, to the Treasury Department.
However, the firm should have given back assets worth close to 69 billion baht, a figure that includes state investments made before the firm's privatisation.
Mr Siracha added that, for the past nine years, PTT Plc has retained the gas pipelines and other structures considered to be state property for its own use.
These pipelines and structures are estimated to be worth around 52.3 billion baht.
The scam is the result of collusion between PTT Plc, the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Finance, he argued.
Following the Administrative Court's initial ruling on Dec 14, 2007, the three parties presented false information at a cabinet meeting.
On Dec 18, 2007, the cabinet was to split the pipelines and structures used by the conglomerate into two categories.
The first included assets owned by the firm and the second comprised assets deemed to belong to the state. The latter were to be returned to the Treasury Department after the Office of the Auditor-General (OAG) had examined the entire process.
However, then energy minister Piyasvasti presented an incomplete list of the state's investments in pipelines, Mr Siracha argued.
According to information Mr Piyasvasti gave the cabinet, PTT Plc only needed to return pipelines worth some 16.17 billion baht.
These included a pipeline running from Bang Pakong to Wang Noi, another from the Thai-Myanmar border to Ratchaburi, one linking Ratchaburi to Wang Noi and several other small structures.
Mr Piyasvasti then forwarded the list to the Treasury Department without having it examined by the OAG, as had been recommended by the court.
The Administrative Court must revoke the Dec 18, 2007, cabinet decision, said former Democrat senator and energy reform activist Rosana Tositrakul.
The decision is invalid because it was made based on false information, she said.
If the court declares the cabinet ruling null, further legal action can be taken against state officials connected to the scam, Ms Rosana added. Charges of misconduct or dereliction of duty could later be brought against them.
Prasert Salinla-umpai, PTT Plc executive vice-president for corporate communication, said the company is ready to explain the case to the public and has prepared information to show the company's business was done transparently.
Senior PTT Plc executive vice-president for oil business Auttapol Rerkpiboon said the firm had been monitored and audited by the SET and OAG every year, which should help confirm the company's transparency.
"We are also audited through our shareholders so if there is something that might not be quite right we will face penalties," said Mr Auttapol.