The Office of the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) will probe whether the Department of Physical Education's 700-million-baht spending on exercise equipment for schools was too high.
PACC secretary-general Prayong Preeyajit said he and a team of officials from the National Anti-Corruption Operational Centre will inspect exercise equipment installed in Bang Len, Wat Bung Lad Sawai and Bang Phai Kok Wuao schools to see if the price paid for it was appropriate.
The schools are located in Bang Len district of Nakhon Pathom province and were provided with equipment by the Department of Physical Education, which is supervised by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.
An initial investigation revealed that, out of a total of 29 purchase procurements, 17 contracts totalling 700 million baht were made by the Department of Physical Education, including 13 contracts for exercise equipment, Mr Prayong said.
He said officials at the department handed him a purchase contract that was found to be unusually highly priced.
Some schools paid only 85,000 baht for their equipment while others bought equipment with the same features for as much as 980,000 baht, he added.
The company in China that produces the equipment sells it for around 100,000 baht, Mr Prayong said.
The PACC suspects politicians are connected with the purchase of the allegedly overpriced equipment.
An initial probe revealed that politicians were behind the signed purchase contracts, he said. No names of those involved were given.
The PACC and National Anti-Corruption Operational Centre will investigate whether the funds used to purchase equipment came from the annual budget or another source, Mr Prayong said.
Officials plan to probe an agent who imported the equipment from China to sell on to the Department of Physical Education, he said.
The PACC will also track down documents related to import declaration and taxes.
Customs officials informed Mr Prayong that the total cost for a set of the equipment should be less than 200,000 baht.
The PACC discovered the unusually expensive exercise equipment during its tour of schools throughout Nakhon Pathom, Ubon Ratchathani and Nonthaburi provinces.