Kamnan Sia ordered to forfeit assets

THE Supreme Court has ordered the permanent seizure of some of former Democrat MP Pracha Pothipipit’s assets for abuse of authority that included extortion.
Pracha, widely known as Kamnan Sia, is a highly influential figure in Kanchanaburi.
The Supreme Court delivered the verdict against Pracha, 72, and six accomplices on Wednesday.
It ordered that assets worth about Bt30 million be turned over to the state.
The ruling was based on evidence that five vehicles and 872 cows or oxen belonging to the seven defendants were obtained through ill-gotten gain.
Their wrongdoing relates to a construction project of a Kanchanaburi-based state agency.
The defendants threatened other constructors, telling them not to bid for the project. In return, Pracha was offered a kickback equivalent to 10-12 per cent of the project’s value.
During the civil proceedings, Pracha argued that the Appeals Court had acquitted him in a related criminal case.
But the Supreme Court said it was mandated to order that his ill-gotten gains be turned over to the state under anti-money-laundering laws regardless of whether or not he was convicted of criminal offences.
An informed source said the criminal case against Pracha had not yet ended and was pending at the Supreme Court.
The Criminal Court found Pracha guilty of bid collusion and sentenced him to five years in jail. He was then acquitted by the Appeals Court.
Now the plaintiffs have brought the case to the highest court.
Pracha is also facing another criminal case for allegedly encroaching on almost 1,200 rai (192 hectares) of state land in Kanchanaburi’s Dan Makham Tia district and Ratchaburi’s Suan Phung district between 1990 and 2004.
The Criminal Court found him guilty of land encroachment and sentenced him to one year in jail last year.
Pracha appealed and he was released on Bt100,000 bail.
The Court of Appeals is scheduled to read its verdict on December 22.