Ministry drops Suphoth graft probe, citing lack of evidence
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There is insufficient evidence to take disciplinary action against suspended Transport permanent secretary Suphoth Sublom, the chairman of an internal fact-finding committee investigating corruption allegations against the bureaucrat said yesterday, addin
“The fact-finding committee agreed that, while there are still doubts in the public’s mind, the facts turned up by the investigation – both in terms of how much money was stolen from Suphoth’s house, and whether Suphoth earned the money properly – do not provide sufficient evidence to propose that authorities take disciplinary action against him under the Civil Service Act,” PM’s Office Ministry permanent secretary Tongthong Chandransu, the panel’s chairman, said yesterday.
Tongthong said the committee would halt its investigation and closely follow the results of probes by other agencies, including the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).
Tongthong was appointed to head the committee in November.
Public prosecutors on February 10 submitted cases against nine people accused of stealing Bt18 million from Suphoth’s home.
Suphoth – who insists only Bt5 million was taken – earlier asked the NACC to extend the deadline for him to present his defence against graft allegations from February 7 for another 30 days, saying he needed to request financial documents from many banks.
