Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) has agreed to supply all requested documents to King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL) this month to help settle its embezzlement scandal.
The documents, pertaining to 68 key financial transactions, could enable the university to prepare a prosecution case to resolve the scandal in which around 1.58 billion baht went missing from its accounts at several banks, including those that it had at SCB.
Documentation for eight transactions related to three main bank accounts with SCB’s Big C Suwintawong branch must be given to the university before Wednesday, according to Monai Krairiksh, acting rector of KMITL.
Documents for 31 transactions from five other accounts that SCB has yet to submit to KMITL will be delivered by Feb 23 and the remainder delivered at a later, unspecified date, he said.
Original documents of the transactions will be submitted to the Crime Suppression Division and copies will be sent to KMITL, Prof Monai said.
Furthermore, Assoc Prof Chamroon Laosinwattana, acting vice-president of KMITL said the university does not allow any officials to withdraw money before signatures are obtained from those with the appropriate authority.
"We still have to find out who signed to approve the transfers and who endorsed the shift of funds to the destination accounts.
"But we will learn the facts and we can proceed to the next step only if the bank gives us all the documents, including those we have not asked for but which are linked to the case since they could turn out to be important evidence to hunt down the suspects," Mr Chamroon said.
However, SCB’s executive committee chairman Vichit Surapongchai did not confirm whether the bank could hand over all the documents within the scheduled time frame set by both parties, but insisted SCB will do its best to assist police in the investigation.
"We also want to put an end to the embezzlement scandal. We are trying to give all the related documents as soon as we can," Mr Vichit said.
SCB does not protect the corrupt or hide the guilty, he added. "The bank is ready to shoulder all of the responsibility if any of our staff have been involved with any illegitimate actions in the case."
The bank has also appointed Wanlaya Kaewrungruang, the deputy chief of SCB’s legal division, to lead a working group to handle the case and cooperate with the authorities.
Earlier, KMITL started closing its bank accounts it held with SCB in protest against the bank for failing to supply documents relating to the embezzlement.