Police agreed today to release eight suspects on bail, including an army colonel and a doctor, who were arrested on embezzlement charges for their alleged involvement in the misappropriation of taxpayer-funded prescription drugs, from the Veterans’ General Hospital, for resale.
Anti-Corruption police approved their bail on the grounds that some of them are government officials and have a fixed address. They were required to post bail in amounts ranging from 250,000 to 400,000 baht.
Since 2018, the female colonel, attached to the Office of the Permanent Secretary of Defence, has allegedly amassed about 40 million baht from the scam. Yesterday, she was taken to her condominium on Rama 4 Road in Bangkok for a search.
Police also conducted searches at 17 other locations in Bangkok, Lop Buri, Prachin Buri and Chon Buri provinces.
The operation is aimed at cracking down on the drug theft conspiracy, allegedly involving doctors, army officers and officials of the Veterans’ General Hospital, who have been embezzling medications from the hospital for several years, causing significant financial losses.
The colonel is alleged to be the key figure in the conspiracy, arranging for patients to see a doctor, also part of the scheme, at the hospital.
The doctor then prescribed excessive amounts of medication to each patient on every visit, ostensibly so they would not need to make frequent hospital visits.
The excess medications were stored at a laundry service office on the ground floor of the colonel’s condominium for safekeeping, before being distributed to commercial pharmacies.
The 48-year-old female doctor was arrested at a house in the Lat Phrao area of Bangkok.
