Court suspends 3 Palang Pracharath MPs over graft allegations
The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political Positions on Tuesday announced that it has accepted the charges filed against Phalang Pracharath party listed MP Wirat Rattanaset and 86 others for corruption in the construction of futsal fields in Nakhon Ratchasima schools.
Among the 86 defendants are two other Phalang Pracharath MPs, namely Tassaneeya Rattanaset, Wirat’s wife, and Tassanaporn Ketmetheekarun, Tassaneeya’s sister.
The court therefore ordered Wirat, Tassaneeya and Tassanaporn to stop all their duties as members of the Parliament immediately.
The allegations are related to the 2012 fiscal budget under which 4.45 billion baht was allocated to Education Service Area Offices in Nakhon Ratchasima and other 17 provinces in the North and Northeast.
Wirat, Tassaneeya and Tassanaporn had allegedly told their subordinates to contact directors of schools under Nakhon Ratchasima Primary Educational Service Area so they could allocate funds for the construction of futsal fields in their school.
Public prosecutors say this unlawful allocation of state funds violated several articles of the Criminal Code, the Organic Act on Counter Corruption, and Act on Offences Relating to the Submission of Bids to State Agencies.
The court has scheduled the first hearing on December 20 at 9am.