BANGKOK, Feb 17 — Thailand's Criminal Court today sentenced Pol Lt Gen Pongpat Chayapan, former chief of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), and six accomplices for money laundering.
The former senior police official alone received a combined term of 16 years and nine months and many more cases against him have yet to be adjudicated.
Pol Lt Gen Pongpat's group was first prosecuted for lese majeste, malfeasance and receiving bribes.
Subsequent searches at their places found over 2,000 assets believed to involve money-laundering attempts.
They include gold bars, gold ornaments, processed rare woods, luxury cars, land title deeds and ancient art and religious objects.
The sentence for Gen Pongpat was reduced by half from 20 years due to his confession.
For the same reason, the jail term of former Marine Police Chief Pol Maj Gen Boonsueb Praithuen was commuted from three years to one year and six months and that of other defendants from 10 to five years.
When the previous jail sentence of six years and nine months for receiving casino bribes and possessing illegal wood is included, Pol Lt Gen Pongpat now faces a combined jail term of 16 years and nine months. Many more legal cases against him have yet to be ruled.
After today's ruling, corrections officials returned Gen Pongpat and the other defendants to the Bangkok Remand Prison. (MCOT online news)
