Anurak Tangpanitanon jailed for 6 years for demanding kickback during budget review. PUBLISHED : 9 Jul 2024 at 18:06. UPDATED : 9 Jul 2024 at 21:18. WRITER:Wassayos Ngamkham. Anurak Tangpanitanon, a former Pheu Thai MP from Mukdahan province, has lost his appeal against a sixyear jail sentence for seeking a 5millionbaht bribe while in office. An appeal panel of the Supreme Court issued the ruling on Tuesday upholding the original decision by the court s Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political Positions. Anurak was prosecuted for demanding the bribe from Sakda Wichiansilp, directorgeneral of the Department of Groundwater Resources, in exchange for not cutting the department s budget allocation when Anurak served on the House committee vetting the 2021 budget bill. On April 25 last year, the court found Anurak guilty of violating the Criminal Code and the anticorruption law. In addition to a sixyear prison sentence, Anurak was stripped of his MP status. The court also banned him from running in elections or holding political positions for life and from voting for 10 years. The appeal panel agreed by a majority vote that the investigation of the case by the National AntiCorruption Commission NACC was conducted properly, according to a source. The scandal came to light when Mr Sakda openly complained to the subcommittee reviewing his department s budget, saying a member had demanded 5 million baht in exchange for not cutting it. The NACC found grounds for the bribe claim and filed the case through the Office of the AttorneyGeneral. The investigation report included testimony from 17 individuals and 10 documents, which was sufficient to establish the facts and determine the defendant s culpability, the appeal panel concluded. Anurak was taken to Bangkok Remand Prison after the ruling was issued on Tuesday. By subscribing, you accept theterms and conditionsin ourprivacy policy.
Former Pheu Thai MP Anurak Tangpanitanon jailed for 6 years for demanding a 5 million baht bribe from a government official during a budget review. Supreme Court upheld the ruling stripping his MP status and banning him from politics for life. The case was based on testimony and documents proving his guilt.