National police chief Pol General Chakthip Chaijinda has ordered a probe into the case of some 200 Loei-based policemen accusing a former provincial police chief of misappropriating Bt229 million from the Loei Provincial Police Savings Cooperative, police spokesman Pol Colonel Krissana Pattanacharoen said.
The alleged fraud reportedly took place during January-July 2017 when 191 police joined the cooperative’s debt management project on the invitation of the then-Loei police chief, who reportedly reneged on what was promised, resulting in the policemen landing in debt which has now doubled and even tripled.
Krissana said the Provincial Police Region 4 had received the complaints from the 191 policemen. A committee has been set up and asked to investigate within 30 days. While approving the panel, Chakthip also urged them to proceed carefully and thoroughly as per the law.
Krissana urged the public to wait for the probe findings before casting aspersions, and promised that even if the accused were a high-ranking officer, he would face serious disciplinary and criminal punishments as many policemen had been affected because of the alleged fraud.
Krissana insisted such an alleged wrongdoing was an individual matter that did not represent the Royal Thai Police in any way.
The Nation
