Anti-graft commissioner ousted as Surachate bribery probe widens

The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has decided to remove commissioner Ekkawit Watchawalku, who has been implicated in a bribery scandal linked to Surachate Hakparn, the dismissed former deputy national police chief.

Surapong Intharathavorn, deputy secretary-general of the NACC, said today that the commission has agreed to appoint Pattarasak Wannasaeng — who oversees the Office of Corruption Investigation and the Office to Investigate the Assets of the State and State Enterprises — to replace Ekkawit.

The Central Investigation Bureau has accused Surachate and five other individuals of attempting to bribe Ekkawit with gold bars worth about 10 million baht, in exchange for help clearing him of charges of malfeasance in office for allegedly accepting bribes from online gambling networks.

Surapong said the removal of Ekkawit is intended to facilitate the NACC’s investigation into the bribery scandal.

The NACC is scheduled to consider the bribery case at its meeting tomorrow. An informed source says the corruption watchdog is likely to return the case to the police, on the grounds that the commission is not empowered to consider it because one of its members is implicated.