Former national police chief Pol Gen Somyot Poompanmuang and former deputy attorney-general Nate Naksuk are among eight suspects to be arraigned by public prosecutors this Thursday over their alleged mishandling of the hit-and-run case against Red Bull heir Vorayuth Yoovidhya in 2012.
The other six suspects are Pol Maj-Gen Thawatchai Mekprasertuk, Pol Col Veeradol Taptimdee, Chainarong Sangthongaram, Thanit Buakhiew, Chuchai Lertpongadisorn and Associate Professor Saiprasit Kerdniyom.
Watcharin Phanurat, deputy prosecution director-general of the Office of Investigation, said today that the eight suspects will report to the office before they are to be taken to the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases to be formally indicted.
The suspects face different charges, he said. Nate Naksuk will face charges of malfeasance in office, for dismissing the speeding charge against Vorayuth, while others will be charged with conspiring to alter the speed of the Ferrari driven by Vorayuth in the police report, to help him evade the speeding charge.
Watcharin estimated that the case is will to take about another year to be completed. Despite the high ranking of some of the suspects, he said that he is not worried at all because his duty is to make the truth about this infamous case public.
Most of the charges against Vorayuth, including speeding and failure to help an accident victim, have been dropped due to the expiry of the statute of limitations. The only pending charge is reckless driving, causing the death of another person.
Vorayuth allegedly drove his Ferrari into Wichian Klanprasert, a policeman riding a motorcycle on the Sukhumvit Road on the night of September 4th, 2012. He is currently on the run overseas.
File photo: Vorayuth Yoovidhya//EPA
