Event planner spent 4 years behind bars in case involving disappearance of B1.6bn from university
PUBLISHED : 16 Aug 2023 at 17:14
A former event organiser, cleared by a court of charges of colluding to siphon 1.6 billion baht from a university, is pressing for compensation and a return of some of his assets that were impounded during the investigation.
Pada Buakhao has formally petitioned the Ministry of Justice after he was acquitted by a lower court of being complicit in swindling 1.6 billion baht from King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL).
The ruling was upheld by the Court of Appeal and the prosecution did not take the case to the Supreme Court. The acquittal of Mr Pada is now final as a result.
The embezzlement came to light after KMITL filed a complaint with police on Dec 16, 2014 against the former manager of a Bank of Ayudhya branch at Big C Srinakarin, as well as the head of KMITL’s financial division.
The university said it had found financial irregularities and asked police to investigate.
Their investigation pointed to Mr Pada’s involvement in the disappearance of the school’s money between 2012 and 2014. He reportedly worked as an event organiser with the university.
Now that he has been cleared, Mr Pada said he was entitled to compensation for the four years he spent in detention as a suspect.
In his petition, Mr Pada asked the ministry to approve the awarding of damages.
Worapan Kladwang, a justice specialist at the Rights and Liberties Protection Department, said the compensation rate for detention is 500 baht per day due to the loss of opportunity to make a living, as well as a one-off sum of 100,000 baht in lawyers’ fees.
Mr Pada also asked the ministry to help him recover some of his belongings impounded during investigation, which are now unaccounted for. He claimed they are worth about seven million baht.
In total, 40 items were seized. It is unclear how many he has been unable to recover.
Mr Worapan said he was waiting for Mr Pada to submit records of the missing items before proceeding with tracking them down. He pledged to provide his full assistance in securing their return.
Mr Pada said he has gone into business since his release, but it has not performed well after customers heard about the embezzlement news.