More officials suspected of corruption to be suspended
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MORE civil servants facing investigation for corruption and fraud are likely to be suspended from work in the coming week.
Their names will be submitted to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, said a source at the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission.
Earlier, Prayut used his powers under Article 44 to suspend 45 civil servants being investigated for corruption. Their respective ministries have been told to complete their investigations as quickly as possible and if found guilty those civil servants must be punished.
The source said the civil servants were also facing criminal offences and were being examined by other anti-fraud agencies such as the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Office of the Auditor-General, who were going ahead with their investigations.
The source said some of the civil servants had been found guilty but were yet to be punished, although under Article 44 their respective ministries must punish them.
The source said that a host of civil servants in the Ministry of Tourism and Sport were being probed for their alleged involvement in the ministry’s purchase of fitness equipment and other sports-related equipment at unusually high prices – some reportedly at 10 times the market price.
A political scientist from Midnight University, Chamnan Junrueng, said the Prayut’s need to use powers under Article 44 reflected the failure of the public sector to self-regulate.
However, he said the investigations should be left to the public sector, although improvements in the investigative process and personnel should be made.
He said in the past the process had been done deliberately slowly because investigators had conflict of interest.
However, he said the use of powers under Article 44 to suspend the civil servants might be unjust because not all of them had been found guilty. The suspensions might result in people permanently being tarnished even if they were found innocent, he said.
