Sophon denies involvement, threatens to sue Chalerm

Former transport minister Sophon Saram yesterday accused Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung of fabricating the kickbacks story to divert public attention from the government’s failure to control the flood crisis and the controversy raised by its efforts to get former PM Thaksin Shinawatra pardoned.

Sophon, in response to Chalerm’s accusation in Parliament on Thursday, held a news conference to deny having anything to do with the alleged irregularity. He said he was the only minister who did not know any contractors and had no direct involvement in the bidding for metropolitan Bangkok’s mass-transit network. 

Chalerm had said that the money uncovered by the recent robbery at the home of now-suspended Transport Ministry permanent secretary Suphoth Sublom were kickbacks related to the bidding for the extension of the mass rapid transport network. Chalerm said he had learned that some unnamed politicians had ordered the burglary because they wanted their share. 

The bidding for the contract took place when Sophon was transport minister under the Bhum Jai Thai Party quota in the previous administration.

Sophon, whose party is now on the opposition bench, said yesterday that he would file a defamation lawsuit against Chalerm and Pheu Thai MP Pichet Chuamuangpan, who was behind the parliamentary query about the case and allegedly made remarks about Sophon. 

“Chalerm has staged a political drama in the House of Representatives in a move to divert attention from the pardon controversy and the flood crisis,” Sophon said, referring to a secret Cabinet meeting to discuss Thaksin’s pardon. 

He also urged the public not to jump to conclusions, saying that the police had arrested suspects in the burglary and that if the law were allowed to run its course, the truth would soon come out. 

Meanwhile, Bhum Jai Thai spokesman Supachai Jaisamut said the parliamentary query session involving Chalerm and Pichet had turned into a smear campaign against the party. He also affirmed that Sophon was ready to prove his innocence against the graft allegation. 

Less than half an hour after Sophon’s news conference, Chalerm called another at the Parliament building and dismissed the former minister’s claim that he was staging a “political drama” to divert attention from the government’s problems. 

Chalerm stood firmly by his story, saying that his information had been obtained from a “reliable source”, not just police investigation.

“I am a million per cent sure that the robbery at the permanent secretary’s home was related to graft. I will not name any particular politician because I am afraid of being sued,” Chalerm said. “I will talk about this again in a few weeks and can guarantee that what I have to say will be a bombshell.”

As for Sophon’s threat to sue him, Chalerm said he had not named Sophon when responding to Pichet’s query. “If he wants to sue, let him. I have no cases in court at the moment and it’s getting a bit boring. But be warned, I will counter-sue for filing false information.” 

Chalerm also rejected Bhum Jai Thai’s allegations that he was interfering with police investigation into the robbery case for political impact. He said that as deputy prime minister in charge of the police, he had the legal power to ensure that the investigation was on the right course. 

In a related development, police investigators still believe that a conflict over kickbacks was a motive in the Suphoth robbery case though no supporting evidence has been established so far, Metropolitan Police commissioner Lt-General Winai Thongsong said yesterday.

He said the police would summon Suphoth for additional questioning about the money stolen from his home because there was an inconsistency in the amount reported by the victim and the amount confiscated from the alleged robbers. 

Suphoth had said Bt5 million had been stolen, but police ended up confiscating Bt17.8 million from the alleged thieves.