Wissanu to look into pay-backs over bogus bomb device scam
PRIME MINISTER Prayut Chan-o-cha said yesterday that he would ask his deputy Wissanu Kreangam to look into legal venues for state agencies that bought the bogus bomb detector GT200s to claim compensation.
A British court ordered last week the confiscation of assets worth 7.9 million pounds (Bt375 million) from James McCormick, which would be allocated to governments around the world that bought the faulty device.
The businessman began serving a 10-year jail term in 2013 for producing the GT200 and the Alpha 6 drug detectors.
Besides Thailand, Iraq, Bahrain, Lebanon, Niger and Georgia were among McCormick’s customers, according to media reports.
Thailand’s Army, National Police, Central Institute of Forensic Science and Customs Department acquired 1,358 devices for Bt1.13 billion, but none of them have filed for a slice of the compensation.
Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said the Thai state agencies that bought the device must use their own funds to seek compensation.
Interior Minister Anupong Paochinda said that if the Army wanted the compensation, it should seek advice from the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
The Thai company that sold the device to the Thai agencies must also be punished if it had intended to cheat them, he said.
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