The Office of the Attorney-General on Thursday charged broadcaster Sorrayuth Suthassanachinda and others with forging documents and using them to damage Mcot Plc to the tune of 138 million baht.
The charges stem from advertising revenue embezzled from Mcot during the term of a TV news programme he hosted a decade ago.
Somnuek Siangkong, spokesman of the attorney-general, said public prosecutors had laid charges in the Criminal Court, alleging the forging of documents, use of the forged documents and damaging of documents to cause financial loss to another party.
The charges related to the embezzlement case in which Sorrayuth's Rai Som Co and a former Mcot employee colluded to conceal advertising revenue earned by his Kui Kui Kao news talk programme from February 2005 to April 2006. The income should have been shared with Mcot under the programme contract.
Rai Som Co paid then-Mcot employee Pichapa Iamsa-ard about 650,000 baht during the period to conceal the advertising records and she used correction fluid in doing so.
That enabled Rai Som to withhold advertising revenue that was due to Mcot, a loss totalling 138 million baht.
Public prosecutors charged that the defendants falsified 139 documents recording the advertising in the TV programme, from January to May 2006, with the intent of misleading Mcot.
In addition to 50-year-old Rai Som managing director Sorrayut and Pichapa, 47, the new lawsuit also brings the same charges against Rai Som employee Montha Theeradet, 43, and Rai Som Co.
Mr Somnuek said the public prosecutors asked the Criminal Court to add any punishment under the new lawsuit to the jail sentences already given to the defendants. Offences under the new lawsuit carry up to five years in prison.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) had brought the previous case to court as malfeasance by a government official, Pichapa, because Mcot is a state enterprise.
The Criminal Court in February sentenced Sorrayuth and his employee Montha each to 13 years and four months in jail for supporting malfeasance by a government official. Pichapa was sentenced in absentia to 20 years imprisonment. Rai Som was fined 80,000 baht.
At the Criminal Court on Thursday, Sorrayuth's staff handed out copies of his statement, accusing the attorney-general of double jeopardy given the case was already brought by the NACC.
Sorrayuth was earlier released on bail of 2 million baht pending appeal. He continued in his then-role as news anchor at Channel 3 until pressure from civil society, professional organisations and TV programme sponsors finally prompted his decision to no longer appear on screen. He remains at Channel 3.
The Criminal Court on Thursday released Sorrayuth and two others on additional bail of 300,000 baht each and set Aug 29 for evidence examination in their document forgery case.