A case summary involving 31 suspects, including police who allegedly colluded with civilians to try and extort 140 million baht from six online gambling suspects last year, has been submitted to prosecutors, deputy Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) spokesman, Watcharin Phanurat, said yesterday.
More than 20,000 pages of the case summary were handed over to the OAG's Corruption Litigation Office, said Mr Watcharin, who is also the deputy director-general of the Office of Investigation.
If the Corruption Litigation Office agrees to proceed with the case, the suspects will be prosecuted in the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases.
The investigation stemmed from complaints filed by six suspects in an online gambling case, who accused the investigation team, led by Chon Buri police chief, Pol Maj Gen Kamphon Leelaprapaporn, of trying to extort 140 million baht from them.
Pol Maj Gen Kamphon was accused of offering to drop the case against the suspects for money.
He allegedly told Thaninwat Udomchaowaset, one of the suspects: "Pae [Mr Thaninwat's nickname], how much do you love [me]? Write [the sum of money] down."
Negotiations brought the amount down to 65 million baht and Mr Thaninwat was released from the police station after the amount was paid.
Mr Watcharin said this probe took over a year to conclude.
The investigation team decided to prosecute 31 of 35 suspects -- 19 police and 12 civilians.
One suspect, Ton Pattaya, is still on the run.
Sixteen police were accused of accepting bribes, neglect of duty, and violating the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearances Act.
Twelve civilians were accused of supporting law enforcement officers in the misconduct.
Two cyber police officers were accused of wrongful arrest.