School exec caught in 'tea-money' NACC sting
published : 2 May 2024 at 07:45
writer: R May
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Chakkrapan Natanri
A deputy director of a school in Khon Kaen was caught taking cash payments from parents in exchange for enrolling their child mid-term.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) said the arrest came after the NACC received a complaint by a parent alleging a deputy director of a school affiliated with Khon Kaen Primary Educational Service Area Office 1 in Muang district demanded an under-the-table payment of 20,000 baht for their child's admission to the school.
The victims said that because their child was able to read and write, the price was cut by half to 10,000 baht.
The payment must be made in cash, the parents said, adding they were not told where the money would go or what it would be used for.
In response, the NACC planned an operation to catch the school official using marked banknotes.
Right after the transaction was concluded, police and the NACC approached the suspect and charged him with wrongfully demanding, accepting or agreeing to accept a bribe under Section 149 of the Criminal Code and wrongfully carrying out duties as a state official under Section 157.
The police also discovered information on his computer revealing other cases of bribery cases involving him and other parents.
The deputy school director was subsequently taken to Muang police station for legal proceedings.
Prateep Juthasorn, deputy secretary-general of the NACC Region 4, said that police would complete compiling their evidence within 30 days before giving a summary to the NACC.
An initial finding showed about 70 students had been accepted mid-term to the school this academic year.
Mr Prateep said that 60 students were found to have paid tea money.
The NACC found most victims were pressured to retract their statements, Mr Prateep said, adding the school has ties to a politician.
Vocabulary
- affiliated: connected with - ผูกพัน
- allege: to say that something is true or that someone has done something wrong, even though this has not been proved - อ้าง, กล่าวหา
- banknote: paper money - ธนบัตร
- bribe: money or a present given to someone so that they will help you doing something dishonest or illegal - สินบน
- carry out (verb): to do something, to finish and complete a task - ทำให้สมบูรณ์, ทำให้สำเร็จ
- cash: money in the form of notes or coins - เงินสด
- enrolling (noun): putting someone onto the official list of members of a course or college - ลงทะเบียน
- retract: to say that something that you previously said or wrote is not true - ถอนคำพูด
- subsequently: happening or coming after something else - ซึ่งตามมา
- summary (noun): a short statement that gives only the main points of something, not the details - ใจความสรุป, ใจความสำคัญ, สาระสำคัญ
- tea money: bribe, money given to government official to get a favour, special treatment or to do something faster - เงินสินบน, เงินที่ให้แก่บุคคลเพื่อจูงใจให้ผู้นั้นกระทำการหรือไม่กระทำการอย่างใดในตำแหน่ง ไม่ว่าการนั้นจะชอบหรือมิชอบด้วยหน้าที่
- under-the-table: a secret deal or agreement -