Previous Samsenwittayalai School director and assistant may file an appeal after serving 20 years in prison.
PUBLISHED: 25 Apr 2024 at 19: 52
Samsenwittayalai School’s former chairman and deputy director have each received a 20-year prison sentence for accepting “tea money” bribes from six families in exchange for their 2017 enrollment.
The Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct situations issued the punishment attempt on Thursday. It likewise ordered the couple to give a forfeit of 700, 000 ringgit.
Viroj Samluan, the former director, and Phusit Prayoonanuthep, the former deputy, were found guilty of malfeasance under Sections 147, 148 and 157 of the Criminal Code, and bribery under the Organic Act on Supplementing the Constitution Relating to the Prevention and Suppression of Corruption, BE 2542 ( 1999 ).
Viroj was found to possess accepted 400, 000 ringgit from a family in exchange for their son’s registration. According to a previous report, he was even found to have connections to various corruption cases involving up to 8 million baht.
According to the judge permits, Viroj and Phusit, along with a professor named Prajern Chotphongsakul, were found to have received the money from January to June of 2017. The court claimed that the school’s financial officers abused their authority by compel them to provide false information on college records.
The charges against Mr Prajern were dropped due to lack of information, according to the warrants.
Viroj and Phusit testified in court evidence that the funds were given to the Student Recruitment Network Committee, which Phusit had founded before.
The committee’s activities were found to be in violation of the Office of the Basic Education Commission’s regulations for receiving money from the Treasury, as well as BE 2551 ( 2008 ), in violation of those regulations.
Both were even found to have embezzled college funds, the subpoena said.
No receipts were obtained for the allegedly donated items, and the items were kept in a safe at Phusit’s business rather than the school’s main safe, according to the investigation.
Just 30, 000 baht in money are permitted to be kept at the university, according to the warrants, and they must be deposited into the university’s bank account within three times.
According to the warrants, Viroj’s try to challenge voluntary receipts was intended to cover up the crime.
In the interim, both people are being held indefinitely in Bangkok Remand Prison.