The Central Administrative Court has ordered the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) and its office to each pay a 5,000-baht fine for not disclosing all the details of its investigation into former deputy premier Prawit Wongsuwon’s high-end wristwatches.
Activist Veera Somkwamkid, head of the Anti-Corruption People’s Network, posted the written order issued by the court and dated May 2 on his Facebook account on Wednesday.
The order requires the fines to be paid within 30 days. If the graft-busters fail to do so, the court can have assets seized to cover the value of the fine.
The judgement demanded that the agency disclose to Mr Veera all reports and evidence connected to the investigation into the case of Gen Prawit. The asset declaration he submitted upon becoming a deputy prime minister in 2014 did not include luxury watches and rings he was seen wearing in public on several occasions.
Internet sleuths uncovered the extent of the collection by combing through hundreds of photos. They put the total value of the 22 luxury watches at about 41 million baht.
The order also required the NACC to disclose the opinions of its officials responsible for the investigation and divulge the meeting minutes regarding the case to Mr Veera.
The court originally ordered the NACC and its office to release details on Aug 4 last year. However, the two parties failed to comply and so the court has now issued the fines.
In his Facebook post, Mr Veera said the court order proved that both the NACC and its office had committed a crime, adding that he would seek criminal punishment against them.
The NACC said on Aug 10 last year that it could not reveal information about the Prawit investigation because of concerns about the safety of the witnesses in the case.
The NACC in December 2018 ruled 5:3 that there were no grounds for the accusation that Gen Prawit had falsely declared his wealth, He has always maintained that he had borrowed the expensive watches from a friend who is now deceased.