NACC says no decision made on Saksayam asset declaration case
Surapong Intharathaworn says no NACC panel has concluded or tabled the Saksayam Chidchob asset declaration case for acknowledgement or a vote.
On Wednesday (March 11), following reports by some media outlets claiming that National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) officials had reached a preliminary conclusion and informed the full NACC board that Saksayam Chidchob, former transport minister and former secretary-general of the Bhumjaithai Party, had not intentionally concealed assets and liabilities in relation to his continued shareholding in Burijarearn Construction Limited Partnership, Nation TV sought clarification from the NACC.
The reports said this was despite a previous Constitutional Court ruling that found Saksayam had retained the shares and remained the true owner, resulting in him losing his post in 2024.
When contacted by Nation TV, Surapong Intharathaworn, secretary-general of the NACC, said the report was “not true”, stressing:
“We have checked with the full NACC board and the various working panels. It has been confirmed that there has been no conclusion on this matter, and the issue has not been submitted to an NACC meeting for acknowledgement or for a vote regarding Saksayam’s asset declaration case.”
The case concerning Saksayam’s alleged concealed shareholding stemmed from a Constitutional Court ruling in early 2024, after 54 MPs submitted a petition to the Speaker of the House of Representatives alleging that Saksayam, then serving as transport minister, had retained a partnership interest, remained a shareholder and was the true owner of Burijarearn Construction Limited Partnership.
The court ruled against him and terminated his ministerial status with effect from March 3, 2023, the date on which it had ordered him to stop performing his duties.
Some media outlets later cited NACC sources as saying that, after the Constitutional Court’s ruling, a complaint had been lodged with the NACC seeking an investigation into Saksayam.
According to those reports, officials responsible for the preliminary fact-finding had already concluded that Saksayam had not intentionally concealed assets because they accepted his claim that he had only learned the shares in Burijarearn belonged to him when the Constitutional Court delivered its ruling.
Those reports also said the asset-declaration review team had determined there was no deliberate concealment, and that the preliminary case team had similarly accepted that he had no vested interest, even though the Constitutional Court had already ruled that the shares in Burijarearn belonged to him.
The matter was reportedly being prepared for submission to the full NACC board for further consideration, before the NACC secretary-general denied the claim to Nation TV.
