Suthee Chuamthaisong, who was among the 16 people who were found guilty of corruption in relation to the graft-ridden rice-pledging scheme initiated by the Yingluck Shinawatra administration, has been arrested in Khon Kaen after evading authorities for several years.
According to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) secretary-general, Sarote Phuengramphan, Suthee Chuamthaisong was arrested yesterday at a house in Nong Song Hong district, where he lived with his common-law wife.
Authorities have been trying to locate his whereabouts since 2015, but Mr Suthee managed to evade authorities in an effort to avoid prosecution. The Supreme Court found him guilty of corruption in 2019 and sentenced him in absentia in prison for his role in the scheme, which caused over 500 billion baht in losses.
According to Mr Sarote, Suthee was found guilty on four counts of corruption in relation to the failed government-to-government rice deals, as per the Law on Offences Related to Bidding Submission to Government Agencies (1999) and the Organic Act on Counter Corruption (1999).
He was sentenced to eight years in prison for each count, or 32 years in total, and was ordered to co-pay 1.6 billion baht in compensation plus interest, along with the other defendants.
Suthee was the right-hand man of Apichat "Sia Piang" Chansakunphon, a well-known rice trader, who was sentenced to 48 years in prison for his involvement in the rice-pledging scandal. He was released on Oct 9 last year after serving seven years of his prison sentence.
