Court orders seizure of ex-Treasury chief's assets
THE CIVIL Court has ordered the seizure of Bt49 million worth of savings from Nibhat Bhukkanasut, former director-general of the Treasury Department, because of his unusual wealth.
The court ruled that Nibhat, 72, failed to prove that he had lawfully gained the Bt49 million in his savings account, so the money was sequestered by the state as requested by the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
The court passed the judgement on September 29 but released the verdict yesterday.
Nibhat argued that the money was proceeds from the sales of his Buddha amulets and his wife’s land.
According to the court, Nibhat did not introduce witnesses who had bought the amulets and land and failed to show transaction records for the deposits to his account.
Nibhat has 30 days from September 29 to file an appeal.
The NACC decided in October 2006 to ask the court to confiscate Nibhat’s assets on suspicion that they were illegally obtained.
The NACC alleged that Nibhat received Bt30 million as a kickback from a company that won the bid to develop the Crown Property Bureau’s property at Mochit Terminal when he headed the Treasury Department.
The NACC also accused Nibhat’s wife of receiving Bt14 million unlawfully.
She claimed that she got the money from selling some land but she failed to show a record of the sale to the NACC.
The Bt30 million and Bt14 million had earned Bt5 million in interest, so the NACC asked the court to freeze Bt49 million from Nibhat’s savings account.
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