DSI appoints advisers for Klongchan case
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THE Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has appointed five advisers for investigating the alleged embezzlement of funds from the Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative.
Former executives of the cooperative are now facing charges of embezzling more than Bt10 billion.
Pol Lt-Colonel Somboon Sarasit, who heads the DSI Bureau of Special Crime, said yesterday the five advisers included Noppadon Uthen, a director at the Anti-Money Laundering Office, and Pol Maj-General Chanachai Limprasert of the National Police Office.
“They have advised our team of investigators to examine the regulations related to cooperatives so we can clearly see who might be involved in the alleged embezzlement and how,” Somboon said.
He said the Cooperative Promotion Department has promised to hand relevant data to the DSI on Tuesday.
The embezzlement has affected not just members of Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative, but also other cooperatives that lent it money.
Khon Kaen Teachers’ Credit Union Cooperative, for example, loaned Bt200 million to Klongchan in 2009 at an annual interest rate of 5 per cent. To date, only Bt49 million of the loan has been paid back. “So, the cooperative still owes us Bt158.57 million,” Ekarat Changlao, the manager of Khon Kaen Teachers’ Credit Union Cooperative, said. He added that once the court orders the debtor to undergo rehabilitation, it should be able to repay the loan.
