Suchatvee Suwansawat, a candidate in Bangkok's gubernatorial race, is now facing a probe by the House committee on corruption and misconduct prevention and suppression over a complaint accusing him of unusual wealth and malfeasance, said Move Forward Party MP Thiratchai Phantumas, a spokesman of the committee.
He said an anonymous party lodged a complaint with House committee chairman Pol Gen Sereepisuth Temeeyaves, Seri Ruam Thai Party leader, a month ago about Mr Suchatvee's affluence as well as alleged wrongdoing.
He said Mr Suchatvee's wealth sharply increased from 44 million baht in February 2016 to 74 million baht in Sept 2020 and 342 million baht last October.
The committee will begin the probe soon, he said.
Mr Suchatvee is the former president of King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL). He is running in the Bangkok governor election under the Democrat Party's banner.
The move also followed an announcement by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) on Dec 29 last year pertaining to a list of assets and debts owned by Mr Suchatvee.
He was required to declare his assets and debts upon resigning as KMITL president, a position he held for about three years.
According to the declaration, he and his wife have 342.11 million baht in assets and 35.19 million baht in debts. A total of 141.72 million baht of the assets were declared to be Mr Suchatvee's personal assets.
The personal assets include a 35-million-baht house and a 2008 Porche car worth 2.5 million baht, according to the financial declaration.
Responding on Thursday to reports regarding the upcoming probe, Mr Suchatvee said he was ready to face it and was confident he had done nothing wrong when at KMITL.
He cited as proof the fact he had passed multiple checks by the NACC, the Office of the Auditor-General and other government agencies throughout his tenure when serving as KMITL president, he said.
"Now that I have volunteered to work for Bangkok residents, I consider myself a public figure who is always ready for any such checks," he said.
He added he had allowed his house to be featured in a magazine simply because the publication's editorial team was interested in its design, which was done by an architect friend, he said.
"As an engineer myself, I am very proud of this work, as is my friend," he said.