Police are questioning dozens of patients who live in Lop Buri about their alleged involvement in a drug and medical supply corruption scandal at the Veterans General Hospital (VGH) in Bangkok.
The abuse of free medication and medical supplies intended for veterans and beneficiaries of their welfare programme is believed to have been going on since 2017, according to Pol Maj Gen Charoonkiat Pankaew, deputy commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB)
Pol Maj Gen Charoonkiat led the questioning on Thursday in Lop Buri, where his team was joined by officials from the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC), the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the War Veterans Organisation of Thailand, which runs the hospital.
Around 30 patients were dealt with in the morning, he said, adding that questioning of another 20 or 30 people should wrap up in two to three days.
Most of the people questioned on Thursday were veterans or their family members who were mostly poor and ill-informed, said Pol Maj Gen Charoonkiat.
Some said they were told to eat more fatty food to keep their blood cholesterol high, while others who were diabetics were told to consume a lot of sugary drinks before having their blood sugar levels tested, he said.
The patients were encouraged to obtain more drugs than they needed so that the drugs could be resold for profit.
Such activities could be considered violations of human trafficking laws as patients were told to fake test results to justify needless prescriptions, he said, adding that this could also jeopardise their health.
More groups of VGH patients are suspected of being involved in the corruption case.
The investigation will be expanded to cover patients at other military and state-run hospitals believed to be involved in the network, he said.
The NACC believes at least 1,000 people could be involved, including more than 100 civil servants and state officials.
A woman identified as Phatchari, who among those collecting evidence about the VGH scandal to give to the House committee on military affairs, said the people being investigated now represented only one of six groups in the authorities’ crosshairs.
Before she began digging into the misconduct, Ms Phatchari said she received a tip-off from the leader of one of these groups, adding that it took her six months to gain sufficient evidence, including videos, to supply to the committee.
