The former director and deputy director of Samsenwittayalai School have each been sentenced to 20 years in prison for taking “tea money” bribes from six parents in exchange for enrolling their children in 2017.
The sentencing order was issued on Thursday by the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases. It also ordered the pair to pay a forfeiture of 700,000 baht.
Viroj Samluan, the former director, and Phusit Prayoonanuthep, the former deputy, were found guilty of malfeasance under Sections 147, 148 and 157 of the Criminal Code, and bribery under the Organic Act on Supplementing the Constitution Relating to the Prevention and Suppression of Corruption, BE 2542 (1999).
Viroj was found to have accepted 400,000 baht from a parent in exchange for their son’s enrolment. He was also found to have ties to other bribery cases worth up to 8 million baht, according to an earlier report.
According to the court warrants, Viroj and Phusit, along with a teacher named Prajern Chotphongsakul, were found to have received the bribes from January to June of 2017. The court said they abused their power by forcing the school’s financial officers to write false information on the school receipts.
The charges against Mr Prajern were dropped due to lack of evidence, according to the warrants.
Viroj and Phusit claimed in testimony to the court that the funds were handed to the Student Recruitment Network Committee, which was established by Phusit earlier.
The investigation showed that the committee’s operations violated resource recruitment measures set out by the Office of the Basic Education Commission, and the Regulations for Disbursing Money from the Treasury, BE 2551 (2008).
Both were also found to have embezzled school donations, the warrant said.
The investigation showed that no receipts were issued for the supposed donations, and the money was kept in a safe in Phusit’s office instead of the school’s central safe.
According to the warrants, only 30,000 baht in funds are legally allowed to be kept at the school and must be put into the school’s bank account within three days.
The warrants said Viroj’s attempt to issue retroactive receipts was meant to conceal the crime.
Both men are being detained at the Bangkok Remand Prison pending an appeal.
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