Former Pheu Thai Party leader Yongyuth Wichaidit pleaded not guilty in the Ratchada Criminal Court on Wednesday to malfeasance charges in the Alpine Golf Course land deal case in 2002.
The court’s corruption and misconduct division set Dec 13 for the first examination of evidence and witnesses. It allowed Mr Yongyuth bail with surety of 200,000 baht and barred him from travelling overseas unless the court permitted him on a case-by-case basis.
Officals from the National Anti-Corruption Commission submitted eight boxes of documentary evidence to the court when they indicted Mr Yongyuth.
Ex-Pheu Thai party leader Yongyuth Wichaidit continues to claim his innocence in the Alpine land scandal
The NACC ruled 6-3 in mid-2012 that Mr Yongyuth – then a deputy prime minister in the Yingluck Shinawatra cabinet -- committed malfeasance in violation of Section 157 of the Criminal Code by unlawfully endorsing the sale of monastic land owned by Wat Thammikaram to Alpine Real Estate Co and Alpine Golf & Sports Club Co during his stint as deputy permanent secretary for the interior. Mr Yongyuth later resigned from the cabinet and his position as Pheu Thai party leader
The 732-rai of land in Pathum Thani province was donated to the temple by the late Nuam Chamnanchartsakda decades ago. Later, the management of the temple sought to transfer ownership of the land but former deputy interior minister Sanoh Thienthong blocked the move in 1990.
A foundation was set up to handle the plot which was later sold to Mr Sanoh's family company which then developed the Alpine golf course and housing estate.