Ex-DLA Chief Faces Six Charges in Recruitment Exam Fraud Probe

The Crime Suppression Division (CSD) has filed six serious charges against Theerut Suphawiboonphol, former director-general of the Department of Local Administration (DLA), over his alleged role in a local government recruitment exam fraud. The charges include malfeasance in office, forging official documents, certifying false information in official documents, jointly removing or causing the loss of another person’s documents, colluding in forging official documents and colluding in opening or taking sealed documents belonging to others to unlawfully access their contents. Pol Col Netiwit Thanasitnitikul, superintendent of CSD sub-division 2, said on Thursday that Mr Theerut had reported to investigators to acknowledge the charges and was being questioned. Thirteen suspects have been summoned to acknowledge charges, divided into two groups, Pol Col Netiwit said. The first group comprises 11 local government officials accused of altering examination answer sheets at a private firm in Nonthaburi province. The second group includes the former DLA chief and Assoc Prof Ruangdech Sirikit, director of Srinakharinwirot University’s Educational and Psychological Test Bureau. Pol Col Netiwit said Mr Theerut and Mr Ruangdech face the same six charges. The remaining 11 suspects are accused of assisting officials in unlawfully performing their duties, forming a criminal association, conspiracy, offences under Section 188 of the Criminal Code and violations of the Computer Crime Act. According to earlier reports, Mr Ruangdech had reported to CSD investigators to acknowledge seven charges linked to the recruitment-exam fraud. A source said six suspects have so far reported to investigators — Mr Theerut, Mr Ruangdech and four officials accused of altering answer sheets. The other seven local officials are scheduled to report on Aug 10. Once all suspects have been questioned and formally charged, investigators expect to finalise the case file and submit it to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) by Aug 12 for further inquiry under anti-corruption procedures. The CSD has also requested assistance from the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) to review the suspects’ financial transactions. As the accused are civil servants facing criminal allegations, Amlo will examine whether any possess assets inconsistent with lawful income; if unusual wealth is found, further legal action may follow.