Pongpat gets another 10 years

Pongpat gets another 10 years

The Criminal Court Tuesday sentenced former Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) chief Pongpat Chayapan to another 10 years and six other defendants to various prison terms for breaches of the Anti-Money Laundering Act and the Criminal Code.

The court accepted guilty pleas by Pol Lt Gen Pongpat, Pol Maj Gen Kowit Wongrungroj, a former deputy CIB chief, Pol Maj Gen Boonsueb Praithuan, a former chief of the Marine Police Division, along with Chob Chinaprapa, Piyapan Chinaprapa, Roengsak Saknarongdej and Sawong Mungthiang.

According to the suspects' testimony, the court said, their crimes were committed between Jan 1, 2009 and July 11, 2014.

The court said the suspects took bribes from Abubakar bin Sulaiman's gambling network and a southern illegal oil smuggling ring.

They also opened a casino at Colonze massage parlour in the Rama IX area and demanded bribes in exchange for promoting police.

Pol Lt Gen Pongpat, Chob, Piyapan, Roengsak and Sawong laundered money by purchasing land plots.

Pol Maj Gen Kowit also bought land to launder money, and deposited 318,000 baht into a saving account in the name of Songpol Thongsin.

As for Pol Maj Gen Boonsueb, he deposited three million baht each into the bank accounts of Wonmongkol Praithuan and Ubonjutha Praithuan.

On the money-laundering case, the Criminal Court Tuesday sentenced Pol Lt Gen Pongpat to 20 years in jail. The jail term was commuted to 10 years due to his confession.

Pol Maj Gen Kowit was given a 10-year jail term, commuted to five years.

Pol Maj Gen Boonsueb was sentenced to three years in jail, subsequently reduced to one year and six months.

The remaining four defendants, Chob, Piyapan, Roengsakand Sawong, were each sentenced to 10 years in jail, commuted to five years.

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