DSI Director-General inspects Factory, Klong Thom District, and Krabi Viset Palm Oil Co., Ltd, seizes Factory and properties obtained from corruption in Krabi Oil–Palm Farmers Cooperatives, worth over 500 million baht, special case no.215/2565

DSI Director-General inspects Factory, Klong Thom District, and Krabi Viset Palm Oil Co., Ltd, seizes Factory and properties obtained from corruption in Krabi Oil–Palm Farmers Cooperatives, worth over 500 million baht, special case no.215/2565

       On Thursday, August 4, 2022, the Director-General of the DSI Mr. Triyarith Temahivong along with Pol.Capt. Surawoot Rungsai (the Director of Government Procurement Fraud Bureau), Pol.Lt.Col. Jukkrit Visetketgarn (the Director of Special Operations Bureau) and the special case inquiry official team raided to search the Factory, in Klong Thom District, Krabi Province, as its special case no.215/2565, in the case of the corruption and embezzlement in the Krabi Oil–Palm Farmers Cooperatives Federation Limited, which affected over 20,000 households and caused damages worth over 1 billion baht.

       The operation resulted from the inspection visit of the Justice Minister, Mr. Somsak Thepsuthin, to receive complaints from the people in the area of Krabi Province, on November 15, 2021, in the case of mismanagement and corruption in the Cooperative by its executives that caused damages to the Cooperative and its members on a broad scale, therefore, the Justice Minister assigned the Director-General of the DSI to consider for acceptance of the case of corruption and embezzlement in the Krabi Oil–Palm Farmers Cooperatives Federation Limited, as its special case, under the Special Case Investigation Act, B.E.2547 (2004). The Director-General assigned the Bureau of Government Procurement Fraud to continually investigate, and appointed Mr. Watcharin Panurattana (the Executive Director of Investigation 2, Department of Investigation, Office of Attorney General) and Mr. Suntara Pontrai (the Expert in Money Laundering Law, the Anti-Money Laundering Office), as the special case’s advisors. The joint operation between the DSI, the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, the Department of Cooperatives Promotion and the Krabi Provincial Cooperative Office, found criminal offences including failure to manage the Cooperative’s property with good faith and to protect the interests of the Cooperative and its members, as well as the illegally sale of the Factory, which is a property of the Cooperative, and the manipulation of a trade contract to benefit the Krabi Viset Palm Oil Co., Ltd, that clearly jeopardized the interest of the Cooperative. The aforesaid crime commission was committed by many teams of Cooperative’s directors/executives/officers who were responsible for the Cooperative’s management. Moreover, some of the aforesaid executives were the founders and executives of the Krabi Viset Palm Oil Co., Ltd, whose status is that of the seller and buyer at the same time. This has created a conflict of interests, which is against the Cooperatives Act, B.E. 2542 (1999).

       The Director-General and the team of Special Case Inquiry Officials, therefore, with a search warrant of Krabi Provincial Court, raided and searched Krabi Viset Palm Oil Co., Ltd, (Klong Thom District) and seized/confiscated the factory, in Klong Thom District, and all related property that was generated from illegal trade and corruption. Also, the aforesaid property is in the scope of “proceeds of crime” under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, B.E. 2542 (1999). For civil measure, the DSI will cooperate and forward the case to the Anti-Money Laundering Office for further actions. Also, the Special Case Inquiry official has issued a warrant to summon the first group of alleged offenders including 8 people for acknowledgement of their charges. The aforesaid alleged offenders can come in between September 1 and 2, 2022, to the Bureau of Government Procurement Fraud, the Department of Special Investigation, for acknowledgement of their charges.

       The DSI has determination to prevent and suppress crime relating to government procurement fraud subject to the scope of duty, and to protect the interests of the nation and its people, the DSI is willing to dedicate its resources and carry out a joint operation, with all government, private, and civil society sectors for efficiency. If the public has any information or clues relating to government procurement fraud, please inform the DSI at 128 Chaengwattana Road, Thung Song-hong Subdistrict, Lak Si District, Bangkok, or DSI Call Center 1202 (Toll free nationwide), the DSI will keep informant’s information confidential.

Dated August 4, 2022