Former Revenue Department Director-General Sathit Rangkhasiri and a former Bangkok-based senior revenue official, Siripong Riyakarnthirachote, were sentenced to life in prison by the Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases today (Thursday), for approving about three billion baht in tax refunds to 25 companies in 2012 and 2013.

The third defendant, Prasit Anyachote, was given six years and eight months, while the fourth, Kittisak Anyachote, was acquitted.

The court ordered the three convicts to be collectively held accountable for compensating the Revenue Department for the 3 billion baht in illegal value-added tax refunds.

It also ordered the confiscation of 77kgs of gold ingots and 3,311 Troy ounces in gold ornaments, currently being kept by the assets management committee.

The court said that the first two defendants, Sathit and Siripong, should have been aware from the beginning that the firms’ claims for tax refunds were unsubstantiated, but they ordered their subordinates to stop investigating whether the firms were actually operational or whether they actually exported goods as claimed.