The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) found a married couple, both DSI officials, guilty of serious disciplinary violations for allegedly taking a bribe of 40 million baht from the perpetrator of the Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative (KCUC) embezzlement.
The two C8 officers, currently suspended from duty, were identified as Maj Nattaya Muttamara and her husband Lt Col Pakorn Muttamara. They failed to defend themselves against charges of taking money from Supachai Srisupa-akson, the former KCUC chairman.
The investigation revealed that the money had been spent purchasing condominium units, so the DSI would forward the report to the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) with a recomendation to seize their assets, director-general Paisit Wongmuang said.
The investigation report would also be sent to the Justice Ministry's civil servants committee, which would then suggest appropriate disciplinary action - either dismissal from office or sacking from the civil service.
The two are among suspects implicated previously in the sale of KCUC land in Nakhon Ratchasima province to Phitsanulok Ethanol Co. This case is being investigated as part of the main probe into the KCUC scandal.
The 1,838 rai of land was reportedly bought by Supachai using money embezzled from KCUC. The DSI later confiscated the land. In 2013, a joint committee set up to protect KCUC members' rights ordered Supachai to sell the land so the money could be returned to members.
However, according to investigators, the two DSI officers colluded in terminating the seizure of the land. As a result, Supachai reclaimed ownership and sold it for about 477 million baht to Phitsanulok Ethanol Co.
Only 100 million baht from the sale of the land was returned to the cooperative. The rest was transferred to a group of 14 people, including the DSI couple.
Supachai later claimed he paid a 60 million baht commission on the sale of the land.
Investigators found that up to 40 million baht of the sum went to accounts held by the two DSI officers.
Pol Col Paisit said the DSI was initiating legal action against the 14 people and had sent information to Amlo, which had its own investigation into whether Amlo officials were involved in the bribery or not.
"For the DSI, two officials were involved in the case and legal action has been taken against them," he added.