BANGKOK, Dec 27 (TNA) – Deputy Prime Minister Prawit
Wongsuwan is innocent in the false asset declaration case, Thailand’s
anti-graft body rules in probably the biggest scandal the military government
has faced.
Members of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC)
voted 5:2 in favour of the decision, NACC secretary-general Worawit Sukboon
said in a press conference on Thursday.
The NACC report says Prawit had no intention to exclude 22
luxury wristwatches from his asset declaration before assuming his posts as
deputy prime minister and defence minister in 2014 as required by law.
The controversy has rocked the military junta as Prawit is
regarded as the most senior and influential among the junta’s leaders.
Prawit was first seen last year wearing a Richard Mille
designer wristwatch worth nearly Bt3 million. Photos of him wearing other
expensive watches and rings had later been exposed leading netizens and the
public to question how he could afford them.
It was later found that he failed to list them in his asset declaration
and report to the NACC.
Prawit has said the he borrowed the watches from his
now-deceased friend, Patthawat Suksriwong, and had already returned them.
The NACC members found that the rings Prawit was seen
wearing were his mother’s and,
therefore, did not need to declare, Worawit said.
The retired general has faced fierce criticism for retaining
his posts in the regime and the Cabinet despite being under investigation.
Prawit’s scandal is widely seen as the worst
that has hit the junta that has promised to combat corruption.
Prawit told reporters before the NACC’s announcement that he
was not worried having explained everything. (TNA)
