Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) and King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL) has reached an agreement to settle the embezzlement scandal in which around 1.5 billion baht of the institution’s money disappeared from its SCB accounts.
After the embezzlement came to light in December 2014, KMITL and police accused the bank of not providing all the evidence needed for the investigation. This prompted SCB’s executive chairman Vichit Suraphongchai to step out On Feb 13 to declare the bank’s intention to supply all the requested documents to KMITL this month to help solve the case.
The documents, pertaining to 68 key financial transactions, could enable the university to prepare a case and ended the scandal in which around 1.58 billion baht went missing from its accounts at two banks, including those at SCB.
Mr Vichit said on Friday the bank would pay 1.5 billion baht, the estimated amount missing from SCB accounts to show its responsibility and in line with good governance principles since one of its employees was a key suspect in the case.
He said if the case dragged on any longer, the image of both the bank and the university would be tarnished.
Mr Vichit said the bank would also cooperate fully with police, including allowing them to interrogate its employees.
Monai Krairiksh, acting rector of KMITL, said on Friday the institution was satisfied with the agreement reached with the bank and would like the case to serve as a precedent for other universities.
He said KMITL had also improved its financial management by making all transactions traceable. The institution also checked all transactions in 2008 and found no more irregularities.
As well, both sides agreed that if the actual damage was less than 1.5 billion baht, the university will return the balance to SCB.
SCB shares closed on Friday at 169.50 baht, down 1.45%, in trade worth 1.16 billion baht.
The university also has another 80 million baht missing from its accounts at Bank of Ayutthaya.
The police this week charged three former KMITL’s executives including former rector Thawil Phuengma with theft, document forgery, abuse of power, negligence of duty, and money laundering. They are now released on bail.
Another 11 persons were allegedly involved in the case. Eight of them are now detained, including former SCB branch manager Songklod Sriprasong. The rest are still at large.