SCB agrees to pay B1.5bn in compensation

SCB agrees to pay B1.5bn in compensation

The Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) agreed yesterday to compensate the loss of 1.5 billion baht in the embezzlement scandal with the King Mongkut Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL).

SCB chairman Vichit Surapongchsi said the bank would take responsibility for the financial damage suffered by KMITL after it found that some of its employees were linked to the scam.

Mr Vichit and Monai Krairiksh, acting rector of the KMITL, signed a memorandum of understanding at the Office of the Higher Education Commission to cement their agreement yesterday.

The compensation amount was calculated based on the KMITL's preliminary assessment.

Mr Vichit said the SCB agreeing to the compensation shows the bank's sense of responsibility toward its customers and willingness to cooperate in the investigation.

The settlement followed weeks of dispute between the bank and the university. The KMITL earlier accused the bank of failing to submit evidence to the police in a case in which more than 1.5 billion baht disappeared from SCB accounts.

Bank executives allegedly failed to hand in withdrawal slips for the stolen money and the committee report on Songklod Sriprasong, the ex-SCB branch manager and prime suspect in the case, within a given time-frame.

Mr Vichit insisted the bank did not try to protect its employees and would continue to fully cooperate with police to seek legal action against the culprits in the fraud.

The 1.5-billion-baht payment to the university is a separate matter from the ongoing criminal investigation, the SCB chairman said.

He said the bank is working to recover the KMITL money which was siphoned from its accounts.

"It’s our duty to move forward," he said, regarding the payment.

The embezzlement case should not become a conflict between the SCB and KMITL, he said.

He added that a prolonged dispute would harm the reputations of the bank and the university.

Mr Monai, meanwhile, said the university was thankful that the bank had stood up to protect its customers and the fraud scam served as a lesson to the KMITL.

The university has since tightened surveillance of its financial transactions after finding that Amporn Noisamrit, head of KMITL’s financial division, allegedly colluded with Mr Songklod to transfer money out of the university’s accounts. 

About 80 million baht was lost from accounts the KMITL had opened with Mr Songklod.

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