Govt accountant embezzled 44 million baht to feed gambling addiction
An accountant with a gambling addiction embezzled 44 million baht over three years from the Wang Phong Subdistrict Administration Office in the central province of Phitsanulok.
The 39 year old accountant, Chayapha (surname reserved), was arrested by officers from the Office of Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) at the Wang Phong Subdistrict Administration Office yesterday while she was working.
The Commissioner of the PACC, Jaroonkiat Parnkaew, stated that the subdistrict mayor, 63 year old Faii Mahasat, filed a complaint with the PACC that almost 44.4 million baht had disappeared from the subdistrict office bank account.
The bank investigated the transactions and discovered that Chayapha had secretly transferred 44,385,450 baht into her bank account.
Chayapa made 132 transactions between December 24, 2020, and February 4, 2023.
Chayapha confessed she was guilty, acknowledging that she had loaned out several million baht, gambled away approximately 2 million baht, gifted 5 million baht to a friend, and used the remainder for her daily expenses.
Additionally, Chayapha revealed that she not only embezzled funds from the official office but also occasionally transferred money back into the account she stole from.
According to the PACC, they suspected that Chayapha may still have some of the misappropriated funds in her possession or that of her relatives. The authorities pledged to investigate all transactions thoroughly to recover as much of the money as possible and return it to the subdistrict office.
A similar swindle happened four weeks ago at the Lad Yao Subdistrict Office in the central province of Nakhon Sawan.
A 41 year old accountant, Phatcharapa, swindled 15 million baht to repay several loan sharks and pay back her gambling debt. She withdrew money from the government budget 215 times before getting caught.
The criminals from the two cases face the same charges:
- Section 147 of the Criminal Law: any government officers who dishonestly take away public property or allow others to take away the property shall be punished with life imprisonment, imprisonment for two to five years, a fine of 2,000 to 40,000 baht, or both imprisonment and a fine
- Section 157 of the Criminal Law by dishonestly performing duties and causing damage to the organisation. This charge will result in imprisonment from one to 10 years, a fine of 20,000 to 200,000 baht, or both.
