AMLO may seize assets of firms in futsal scam
Piyanut Tumnukasetchai,
Prasit Tangprasert,
Jitima Janphrom
The Nation
BANGKOK: -- More than 100 schools in 17 provinces facing investigation
The Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) may seize the assets of two private companies involved in the construction of futsal fields at 101 schools in the Northeast, Central and Northern regions that show premature degradation. Reporting the agency's probe into transactions of the Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec) project, AMLO secretary-general Pol Colonel Sihanart Prayoonrat said that AMLO had inspected commercial licences and transactions of the two bid-winning companies, to check their links to other bidders and whether there was an auction collusion.
AMLO also dispatched 10 officials to join the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) probe whether any official was involved in alleged corruption or illegally benefited from the project. They would wait for the PACC to find grounds for corruption before going ahead with asset seizure.
The case emerged after local military units in the Northeast inspected some futsal fields following parents' complaints of premature damage. The initial investigation found that the futsal field constructions costing Bt335 million in Nakhon Ratchasima, Ubon Ratchathani, Chaiyaphum, Surin, Mukdahan, Amnat Charoen, Yasothon, Si Sa Ket, Khon Kaen, Chiang Rai and Phayao provinces might have involved corruption. Some schools in other provinces reportedly used that budget for other purposes such as building school toilets.
PACC chief Prayong Preeyajit, who joined with the military units in the recent inspection at a school in Nakhon Ratchasima's Prathai district, said that irregularities were detected in the school's spending of the Bt5-million budget to build a futsal field and in the purchase of sports manuals.
Prayong said the field was substandard and some parts of the ethylene acetate rubber coating were already swollen and thus unusable. He said that three firms had joined the biding and the winner was reportedly a subsidiary of the other bidder. He added that the construction materials appeared to be worth less than Bt5 million.
Prayong said Obec had got more than Bt600 million to build futsal fields in 358 schools in 17 provinces. Obec had also set that the laying of concrete for the futsal fields would cost 4 per cent of the budget, ethylene acetate rubber coating would cost 80 per cent, while 16 per cent would be used for buying sports equipment and manuals.
Prayong said that the PACC's initial probe of 30 schools in Nakhon Ratchasima had found that many fields were already worn out and might have been overpriced. The team would gather information on procurement and witness testimonies to report to the PACC board soon.
The Office of the Auditor-General of Thailand Region 4 director Teerasak Wiriyaklompan said that provinces in his jurisdiction - Nakhon Ratachsima, Chaiyaphum, Buri Ram and Surin - received Bt340 million to cover 76 schools. The Region 4 officials' inspection of 16 schools in Nakhon Ratchasima's Noen Sung district found no documents on construction procedure to check and the construction materials were also not tested as per the regulation.
They would send an engineer to investigate whether the field damages, after two years of use, were related to the materials. The probe would be completed by the end of October.
Meanwhile, Rangsan Theunana-dee, director of the Secondary Educational Service Area 25, said 15 schools under his jurisdiction had got a total of some Bt28 million budget to build futsal fields.
His office would next week launch a probe and report the problem to the provincial governor, the auditor-general and related agencies.
Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/AMLO-may-seize-assets-of-firms-in-futsal-scam-30245228.html
-- The Nation 2014-10-11