Politicians involved in Rolls-Royce-PTT bribery scandal won’t be spared: NACC
THE NATIONAL Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) vowed it won’t spare any politician found involved in the bribery scandal of UK giant Rolls-Royce paying off former executives of PTT and PTT Exploration and Production.
NACC secretary-general Sansern Poljeak said on Friday that the commission had recently given its three commissioners – Supa Piyajitti, Pol General Sataphon Laothong and Surasak Keereevichien – joint responsibility for investigation of the scandal.
He revealed that former executives and members of the board of directors of the two state enterprises were responsible for procurements and they had been accused of receiving tea money from Rolls-Royce. He said so far no evidence linking former politicians had been found.
Should new evidence suggest the involvement of former politicians in this corruption case, the NACC would go after them, he assured.
The NACC began investigating the corruption case after the US Justice Department released its report in January that Rolls-Royce Plc, the UK-based manufacturer and distributor of powers systems for the aerospace, defence, and marine and energy sectors, had agreed to pay the US nearly $170 million in a criminal penalty case for corrupt foreign practices. The move came after Rolls-Royce revealed it had paid bribes to officials in Thailand, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Angola and Iraq between 2000 and 2013.
The US Justice Department said Rolls-Royce had paid $11 million (Bt385 million) to Thai officials for the seven contracts awarded by the two state enterprises.