Cop gets 50 years for taking bribes from Thai massage parlour

The Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases yesterday sentenced a cop to 50 years in prison for taking bribes, totalling 641,000 baht, from a Bangkok massage parlour.

The unnamed police officer was indicted on 65 counts of bribe-taking after turning a blind eye to illegal activities at the massage parlour on Ratchadaphisek Road.

The ruling was published in a Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission news bulletin last month which revealed the policeman, attached to the Metropolitan Police Bureau’s Investigation Division, was found guilty of bribe-taking.

The court found the defendant guilty of violating the anti-graft law and was initially sentenced to 325 years in prison, five years for each of the 65 counts of bribe-taking. However, the law states he can only spend a maximum of 50 years in prison.

Police raided Nataree Entertainment in 2016 after a tip-off the establishment was using minors to work as sex workers. They found more than 120 female sex workers, including foreigners and victims of human trafficking in the place. Eight of them were under the age of 18.

Books seized revealed bribes were being paid to officers from a number of prominent city police departments. One of the books showed that over 300,000 baht in bribes were paid to a number of state officials, some picking up 5,000 baht a month while others were claiming about 80,000 baht.

This one of a number of times Nataree Entertainment has been in trouble with the authorities. In 2017, the Criminal Court sentenced five people to up to 13 years in jail for procuring minors and migrants as prostitutes. Its owner, 63-year old Prasert “Kolak” Sukkhee, was arrested in October last year in Bangkok for the alleged involvement in trafficking of minors.

SOURCE Bangkok Post