Saraburi: The mayor of a municipality in Ban Mo district has been arrested on charges of demanding and accepting bribes related to a construction contract.
Prachum Khwanmuang, mayor of Tambon Talad Noi municipality, was arrested in front of Sing Buri Wetchakarn Hospital in tambon Bang Man, Muang district on Tuesday.
The 58-year-old was arrested by officials from the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACD), the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) and the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).
Mr Prachum was wanted on an arrest warrant issued on Jan 19 by the Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases and is accused of taking bribes as a state official, dereliction of duty, and abusing his authority to demand assets or benefits.
His arrest followed a complaint by a subcontractor awarded 18 contracts with a combined worth of 5.4 million baht by the Talad Noi administration in June last year. He alleged Mr Prachum demanded a bribe of about 12% of the 18 projects' budgets, about 700,000 baht.
The contracts were for tap water system improvements.
Fearing he might have faced problems doing the work if he did not pay, the subcontractor said he handed over 150,000 baht, with the remainder to be paid after finishing the first contract.
The subcontractor drew on about 500,000 baht of his own money. After the work was done, he said the mayor refused to sign his approval for the first project's budget.
Mr Prachum allegedly demanded the subcontractor pay the remainder of the bribe before he would sign off.
The subcontractor said the mayor also demanded more money than had been agreed while the use of his own money to cover costs had been ignored. The subcontractor took the case to the ACD.
ACD police gathered evidence and obtained a warrant for the mayor's arrest.
During questioning, Mr Prachum denied all charges. He was handed over to ACD sub-division 1 police for legal action.