Complaint filed against Torsak
Top cop accused of money laundering
Lawyer Sittra Biabungkerd yesterday filed a police complaint against national police chief Pol Gen Torsak Sukvimol, his wife, and the owners of two mule accounts, accusing them of money laundering.
He said none of the accusations that he has made related to malfeasance under Section 157 of the Criminal Code have yet to be filed.
Mr Sittra, secretary-general of the Foundation of People’s Lawyers, submitted 175 pieces of evidence, including the accused’s financial transactions, at Tao Poon police station. The same set of evidence was previously submitted to the Anti-Corruption Division on Sunday.
Mr Sittra said he filed the accusation at Tao Poon station, expecting the station might have evidence that link the group to an individual called Pimwilai, a suspect in the BNK Master online gambling case. The case also involves an accusation of money laundering against deputy police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn.
“If I weren’t confident, I wouldn’t dare accuse the police chief because there is a high chance that I would be the one to be prosecuted,” Mr Sittra said.
He added that he also went to the Southern Bangkok Criminal Court to transcribe the dropped defamation accusation that Pol Gen Torsak levelled against him last week to study the case further.
Earlier at Tao Poon station, Nuttawit Netijaruroj, Pol Gen Surachate’s legal team leader, met with the station superintendent regarding additional information his client wanted to submit.
According to Mr Nuttawit, Pol Gen Surachate said that none of the financial transactions in question involved him or his wife. Mr Nuttawit also said Pol Gen Surachate did not attempt to avoid receiving the warrant.
“It was strange that the summonses were issued three times within 10 days.
Normally, each summons should be issued approximately 15 days apart,” he said, adding that despite this fact, his client has not physically received any summons.
Mr Nuttawit pointed out that Pol Gen Surachate has not yet been accused of malfeasance, and he questioned why this case had not been sent to the National Anti-Corruption Commission. It has been 120 days since the accusation was first filed with police on Dec 3 of last year, and it is long past the 30-day deadline for it to be filed with the anti-graft body.