The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) will file a case in the Supreme Court against former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra and others for allegedly wasting a 240-million-baht budget on publicising infrastructure projects in 2013.
NACC secretary-general Niwatchai Kasemmongkol said the commission would take the issue to the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions after public prosecutors had earlier turned down the case citing a lack of evidence.
Mr Niwatchai expected the lawsuit would reach the court in two weeks.
The legal action also will include Yingluck's then secretary-general Suranand Vejjajiva and former deputy prime minister Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan. Private parties involved in the publicising project, Matichon Plc along with Siam Sport Syndicate Plc and its director Ravi Lohtong, likewise will be named in the action.
The NACC alleges the Yingluck government illegally allocated 240 million baht to the "Roadshow to Thailand's Future Thailand 2020" project.
The anti-graft panel considered the expenditure wasteful. Therefore, Mr Niwatchai said, the parties involved were in breach of the Criminal Code for malfeasance, the organic law on corruption prevention and suppression, and the law on price collusion in government projects.
The roadshow was launched in 2013 on the instruction of then-prime minister Yingluck. It included exhibitions, seminars and other activities to promote the project. In March 2014, the Constitutional Court ruled the roadshow was unconstitutional.