The National Anti-Corruption Commission has asked four people in the private sector to give statements in connection with its probe into the undeclared luxury accessories owned by Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon.
It also dismissed a case in which Gen Prawit, also the defence minister, was accused of malfeasance when his trip to attend a 2016 defence meeting in Hawaii reportedly cost 21 million baht.
NACC secretary-general Worawit Sukboon, who is also its spokesman, said on Friday letters had already been sent to the four people, whom he did not name, and the questioning would begin next week both in and outside the NACC office.
He also declined to confirm rumours one of them was Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, owner and chairman of the duty-free chain King Power Group.
He added the NACC had asked Gen Prawit to give additional information by Jan 19 after the deputy prime minister submitted a written statement on the acquisition of the items on Dec 27.
Gen Prawit has been in the hot seat after he was seen wearing a diamond ring and a Richard Mille watch said to be worth millions. A look into his declared assets at the NACC website showed he had not declared them.
A number of elected politicians were found guilty by the NACC earlier for the offence of intentionally failing to declare assets, the penalties of which include a jail term, fine and/or seizure of the assets in question if the court for politicians agreed with the NACC. The court established earlier that the wrongdoing was an offence in itself even without corruption intent.
Social media users have also dug up Gen Prawit's recent photos and found he had worn 15 luxury watches worth millions of baht on several occasions.
As for the 2016 Hawaii trip case also involving Gen Prawit, Mr Worawit said the anti-graft commission had decided on March 31 last year to dismiss it since the evidence submitted by the Auditor General’s Office did not suggest any violation of rules.
According to the Auditor General's Office, Gen Prawit together with 37 delegates, took the chartered flight because all of them would attend the same meeting and needed to discuss several issues among themselves. It would have been inconvenient for them to take separate flights.
It also claimed Gen Prawit took the trip as the security chief at the ministerial level and chartered flights were possibly a normal practice for men of his status in several countries.
A breakdown into the 21-million-baht cost is fares (3.8 million baht), fuel (10 million baht), meals (600,000 baht), ground operation fees (2.6 million baht) and other operating fees (3.1 million baht).
The trip took place from Sept 29 to Oct 2, 2016. It made headlines shortly after as photos of the in-flight menu leaked in social media showed it included delicacies such as caviar. There were also false rumours that a TV news anchor said to be close to Gen Prawit had been on the flight.
On the Rolls Royce bribery case, Mr Worawit said on Friday the evidence collection was 80% complete while questioning was 60% done in the part involving Thai Airways International.
He added the NACC was in process of coordinating with the Attorney’s General Office to seek cooperation from Britain.
For the part involving PTT Plc, 60% of the evidence had been collected and the panel is in the process of hearing those involved and seeking cooperation from the US.
“It’s difficult to find evidence in both cases as the incident happened in 2003-4. We have to wait for the evidence from abroad and we can't say how long it will take,” said Mr Worawit.