The National Anti-Corruption Commission has accused Pareena Kraikupt, a Palang Pracharath MP for Ratchaburi province, of intentionally filing a false asset declaration.
A source at the anti-corruption agency told Thai media on Monday the case was 90% done.
“Ms Pareena has been informed of the charge so she could give statements to the NACC as allowed under NACC law,” the source said.
On the forest encroachment allegation, the NACC decided the alleged crime had not been committed in her capacity as a state official (MP) but as a person. It already dismissed the case filed by natural resources and environment police.
However, from the ethical standpoint, the NACC is considering whether she intentionally and seriously violated the code of ethics.
“If the NACC finds the case has ground, it will send her case to prosecutors who will decide whether to send to the court for politicians,” the source said.
If the court accepts the case for deliberation, Ms Pareena must be relieved of official duties until a ruling comes. If found guilty, the court may also revoke the rights to run in an election and to vote for 10 years.
Ms Pareena declared net assets totalling 140 million baht in August last year. Part of it is 58 plots totalling 1,706 rai in Chom Bueng district which she valued at 200,000 baht in total. Of her 112-million-baht annual income, 110 million came from the Khao Son farm she owned in Chom Bueng district.
After a former Pheu Thai Party member asked the NACC to probe whether she trespassed on forest land, she said her father Thawee Kraikupt gave it to her in 2005-6, long before the Agricultural Land Reform Office declared it reform land.
The land does not have any title deeds and she paid a local tax as proof of her occupation for decades.
Subsequent surveys show 682 rai of her land had been declared Alro land while 46 rai was in reserved forests. The remaining 1,000 rai she had declared remain a mystery even to her father, who claimed the family never had that much land and he had no idea where she got that figure.
The penalties for encroachment, calculated by plot, are 4-20 years for a plot over 25 rai and 1-10 years for a smaller one.
