Ex-DSI chief's sibling convicted over lese majeste charges
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Setthawut Pengdit, 52, a younger brother of former Department of Special Investigation (DSI) chief Tarit, was sentenced by Bangkok's Ratchadaphisek Criminal Court to two and a half years in jail over lese majeste charges in relation to the purchase of a
The case has two defendants – the property agent Setthawut and businessman Boontham Thepprathan, 65. While the former confessed, which resulted in his five-year sentence being halved, the latter denied any wrongdoing and has vowed to fight the case in court.
Hence the court has temporarily dismissed the lawsuit pending a re-submission of the case against Boontham in seven days. The two are being detained at the Bangkok Remand Prison.
In related news, an informed source at the Office of the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission said a subcommittee had been set up to investigate nine civil servants in relation to their alleged role in land encroachment in Pak Chong’s tambon Moo Si. This case is related to a land-rights document that also covers the territory earmarked for the Agricultural Land Reform Office (ALRO), the source said, adding that the subcommittee should be able to indict the wrongdoers in the next four to six months.
Meanwhile, Nakhon Ratchasima Governor Thongchai Leuadul said provincial land officials were also investigating the issuing of the questionable land-rights document and would report the result to him next week. If the document is revoked, the encroached land will be returned to ALRO, he said.
