Prinya questions anti-graft ruling on Saksayam

The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has come under criticism again, this time from Thammasat University law lecturer Prinya Thaewanarumitkul, over its ruling clearing former transport minister and former secretary-general of the Bhumjaithai Party, Saksayam Chidchob, of concealing his assets.

Both the People’s Party and the Democrat Party have expressed doubts about the NACC’s finding, which they say contradicts the Constitutional Court’s ruling that Saksayam owns shares worth about 119 million baht in Buri Charoen Construction Limited Partnership, held in the name of a nominee, Suphawat Kasemsut.

He was found guilty of concealing his assets and removed from his post as transport minister by the court.

Prinya said the NACC’s ruling, which found that Saksayam had no intention to conceal his assets, is totally unacceptable, noting that the Constitutional Court had clearly ruled that he has always been the owner of the shares in all but name.

File photo: Prinya Thaewanarumitkul

He pointed out that holding shares under another person’s name is widely recognised as a way to conceal the true identity of the owner. He questioned how the NACC could have concluded that Saksayam had no intention to conceal his assets.

He added that a lack of intent to conceal would apply if the shares were in Saksayam’s own name and he had simply failed to declare them.

The law lecturer further noted that the Constitutional Court did not order the nominee to transfer the shares to the real owner because it believed Saksayam had been the true owner all along and that the shares were deliberately held under a nominee’s name.

He expressed concern that the NACC’s ruling in this case could set a bad precedent for similar cases.

“This is too much,” Prinya said, adding that the ruling further erodes the NACC’s credibility.