The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has found former deputy agriculture minister Supachai Phosu guilty of severe ethical misconduct in connection with illegal occupation of a forest reserve in Nakhon Phanom province.
The anti-graft agency will forward the case to the Supreme Court for political office holders for a ruling, NACC spokesman Niwatchai Kasemmongkol said on Thursday.
Mr Supachai was found to have illegally occupied 220 rai of land in the Dong Prathai forest reserve in Thai Uthen district of Nakhon Phanom province. The NACC found no evidence of Nor Sor 2 land occupancy documents for 40 plots covering 220 rai, said Mr Niwatchai.
In three separate asset declarations to the NACC, Mr Supachai said he occupied 40 land plots covering 220 rai and designated under Nor Sor 2 in tambon Prathai of Tha Uthen district in the northeastern province.
The declarations were made on Jan 22, 2008 when he took office as an MP for Nakhon Phanom; on June 3 of the same year when he was named deputy agriculture minister; and again on May 25, 2019 when he took office as an MP.
An NACC investigation found that the politician, who was not qualified to take part in a land-reform scheme in the Dong Prathai forest reserve, had entered into contracts to buy 40 plots from recipients who were qualified to use the land for agricultural purposes.
The law prohibits the transfer of ownership of reformed land. After occupying the plots, Mr Supachai planted rubber trees.
Mr Supachai, who then held the post of deputy agriculture minister and also was a deputy House speaker, issued letters on July 11 and 12 last year to void the right to possess and use those land plots.
The House committee on ethics of MPs, chaired by then parliament president Chuan Leekpai, opened an investigation into Mr Supachai, then a Bhumjaithai MP for Nakhon Pathom, in October 2022.
The NACC found that the MP’s action to occupy forest land for his own benefit violated the law and failed to uphold the public interest with respect to management of state land and forest resources.
As well, it said, the politician’s actions deprived landless people, as well as those who owned small plots that were not enough to support themselves, of the right to acquire land for farming.
The NACC ruled that such actions had tarnished the dignity of the office of an MP and cabinet minister, and constituted a severe ethical violation.