THE former director of the National Office of Buddhism Mr. Nopparat Benjawattananan was provisionally arrested by US marshalls at a hospital in Texas after fleeing to the US in 2017 with alleged millions of baht of kickbacks from a temple renovation and development subsidy project, Amarin TV said this afternoon (Apr. 13).
The National Anti-Corruption Commission decided to indict Nopparat after finding that he was unusually wealthy to the tune of 500 million baht.
In addition, the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) had ordered the seizure of assets of this suspect and his associates. They are alleged to have taken kickbacks at least four times in the temple project totalling approximately 94.2 million baht.
Nopparat has been living a comfortable life in the US since 2017 until his arrest on Friday after seeking medical treatment at a Texas hospital.
He is scheduled to appear at a Texas court over an extradition request filed by the anti-graft agency via the Office of the Attorney General.
Pol. Maj. Gen. Charoenkiat Pankaew, deputy commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau, and Pol. Maj. Gen. Prasong Chalermphan, commander of the Anti-Corruption Division, have also filed a request to extradite Nopparat to be prosecuted in Thailand as he is a suspect in dozens of other cases.
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The suspect Mr. Nopparat Benjawattananan. Photo:Amarin TV
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