The national anti-graft agency will expand its probe into former Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra for alleged dereliction of duty in City Hall's multi-million-baht 2016 New Year lighting scandal.
Although former Bangkok deputy governor Jumpol Sampaopol, who acted on behalf of MR Sukhumbhand when endorsing the the project, and some other suspects were earlier cleared of malfeasance, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) decided Tuesday that further investigation was needed to find out if MR Sukhumbhand should be punished for failing to stop the project or better scrutinise it.
Entitled the "Bangkok Light of Happiness" project, the 39.5-million-baht event, intended to be a New Year's "gift" from the former governor, featured a tunnel of coloured lights at Lan Khon Muang Plaza in front of City Hall on Din So Road. The lights were displayed for one month from Dec 30, 2015 to Jan 31, 2016.
The project involved 5 million LED lights and crystal light fixtures that critics regarded as a waste of taxpayers' money. The Office of the Auditor-General (OAG) indicated from the start there were possible irregularities in the project's spending.
The released report containing the NACC's investigation previously conducted against Mr Jumpol and 17 other parties allegedly involved in the scandal showed the project was MR Sukhumbhand's idea and the main source of the problem was City Hall's committee responsible for drafting the terms of reference (ToR) for the project.
The terms were not drafted properly as no research on the costs of the project was done before the ToR committee adopted details of the project from the information supplied by Curio Tour & Travel Co, the NACC said.
A fake document was also used to falsely prove that the required research on possible costs of the project had been completed before the terms were drafted, it said.
"Worse still, Curio Tour & Travel Co was found to have been registered only three months before the day it made an offer in the project bidding," said the NACC.
"And the irony is that although the value of the project was as high as 39.5 million baht, it wasn't even stated in the contract that ownership of the equipment procured under the project would go the BMA after the project ended in 31 days," according to the agency.
The company's executives could not be reached for comment.
The NACC had found only four civil servants of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) involved in the drafting of the project's ToR guilty of violating the law on bidding price collusion and committing "serious" disciplinary misconduct.
They were Pranee Sattayaprakop, former director of the BMA's office of culture, sports and tourism; Thawatchai Janngam, former head of the tourism section of the office; Morakot Phumphanich; and Sitthichok Aphibal, a tourism development officer.
The NACC also ordered a further probe of 16 individuals and companies in the same scandal for alleged document forgery including Mr Thawatchai, who is already among the four BMA officials found guilty in the completed investigation into malfeasance, it said.
A source said the BMA is now waiting for a formal letter from the NACC regarding the four officials found guilty in the New Year lighting scandal.
There are only two possible penalties for committing serious disciplinary misconduct: to be dismissed from their positions while still maintaining their right to receive work benefits, or in the worst-case scenario to be fired with all such rights forfeited.