Chon Buri university dean and senior official charged with embezzlement

A Chon Buri university dean and senior official are being charged with embezzlement after funds allocated for training courses and academic seminars went missing. According to Bangkok Post, Assistant professor Theeraphong Bualar, 48, dean of Burapha University’s Faculty of Political Science and Law was charged along with Sayaphat Kittisarawanno, 46, acting head of the dean’s office. Both were charged with abuse of authority to commit graft, dereliction of duty, malfeasance in office, embezzlement and other offences at the state-run university.

The Anti-Corruption Division commander visited the university after receiving a complaint about alleged irregularities in some 47 university projects. Upon investigating, officials found irregularities in budget spending for eight seminar and training projects. One seminar was concerning groundwater resource management. That seminar saw 1.12 million baht allocated towards it, with Theeraphong acting as the project leader and Sayaphat serving as a committee member and secretary. Three foreign lecturers were supposed to speak at the seminar back in 2018, with the committee allocating 150,000 baht for each foreign speaker, totalling 450,000 baht. However, immigrant records show that none of the foreign speakers listed was in Thailand during that time. The investigators also found that no training was organised as claimed.

Both Theeraphong and Sayaphat denied all charges during questioning. They were taken to Saen Suk district police station in Chon Buri for fingerprinting and acknowledgement of the charges. Police say they were released but will be called in later to meet with investigators.