Bank auditor jailed 20 years in billion-baht fraud case

– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community

PHUKET: A key suspect in the Bangkok Bank of Commerce (BBC) fraud scandal was yesterday sentenced to 20 years in prison, commuted originally from a total term of 155 years resulting from convictions on 31 counts of embezzlement and violation of a law regulating property management.

Chattawat Muttamara, better known by his former name Weeraphol, was also ordered to reimburse 732.98 million baht to the BBC stakeholders, and to pay 31mn baht in total fines, 1mn baht for each count.

Six other defendants in the case were acquitted yesterday by the Criminal Court, but two of his aides – Choochart Harnsawas and Manote Chaowarat – were ordered detained during the period of their appeals.

The same charges against BBC president Krirkkiat Jalichandra were dropped because he has died.

Chattawat, founder of SiamMass Co Ltd, which was hired by BBC to audit its assets, was found guilty of intending not to follow auditing requirements and of doing so jointly with Krirkkiat, and thereby causing damages to the bank and its stakeholders amounting to 732,982,485.17 baht.

Yesterday’s verdict was part of a case involving 10 other prosecutions against Krirkkiat and other accomplices involved in the BBC scandal, which caused it to collapse.

Krirkkiat was sentenced to a total of 30 years in prison in a previous verdict by the Bangkok South Criminal Court and ordered to compensate BBC and its stakeholders to the tune of 3.2 billion baht.

— Phuket Gazette Editors