The Bangkok North Municipal Court on Wednesday sentenced a businessman for lying to police during an investigation into a murder case allegedly involving former deputy commerce minister Banyin Tangpakorn.
The court found Charnsak Thanatecha guilty of giving false statements to police investigating the murder of Chuwong Sae Tang, owner of a large construction firm.
He lied to the officers by vouching for Banyin's statement to police investigators. Banyin told police he drove his car with Chuwong on board after they left a restaurant where they had dinner in Bangkok on June 26, 2015. Banyin claimed his car had crashed into a tree killing Chuwong who was sitting in the front passenger seat. He insisted it was an accident.
However, forensic evidence suggested Chuwong had been murdered and Banyin had allegedly masterminded the crime. He was thought to have been motivated to kill the businessman for a large amount of shares in the dead man's firm which had been illegally transferred to the former deputy minister and placed in the possession of two women with whom Banyin was romantically involved.
Banyin and five other suspects are also charged with abducting and murdering the brother of a senior judge to force her to drop an indictment against Banyin in the share transfer case.
Wirachai Sakuntaprasoet, an elder brother of Bangkok South Criminal Court judge Phanida Sakuntaprasoet, was kidnapped by four men outside the court on Feb 4. The 70-year-old was later killed and his body burned and dumped into the Chao Phraya River in Nakhon Sawan.
One of the alleged kidnappers was Banyin, who drove Wirachai from Bangkok to a wood in Khao Bai Mai in Nakhon Sawan, according to police.
Banyin, who also holds the rank of police lieutenant colonel, and two alleged accomplices, Manat Thapnin and Narongsak Pomchan, were arrested first. Questioning of Mr Manat led to the arrest of three more suspects, identified as Pol Snr Sgt Maj Thongchai Wachisatcha, Prachawit Sithongsuk and Chatchai Menkun.
Yesterday, the court sentenced Charnsak to two months in jail over the false statement charge. However, the jail term was halved due to his confession. The court further commuted the jail sentence to a month in jail because he has never been convicted before.
