Three government officials who committed a 2-billion-baht fraud over the procurement of rubber gloves during the pandemic are to be fired over the serious disciplinary offence, the Commerce Ministry said Wednesday, after more than a year of investigation.
The fraud was found in the procurement of 500 million boxes of rubber gloves worth 113 billion baht in August 2020, when glove demand soared on Covid-19 trends. The purchase proceeded without getting approved by the board of the Public Warehouse Organization (PWO).
The officials are PWO former Acting Director Rungroj Puttiyawat, and two executives Kiatkajorn Saetai and Muratathorn Khambut.
“The utmost action must be taken and all indemnities must be followed up on,” said Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit, who is also deputy prime minister.
The investigation conducted by National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has been sent to the PWO for further action, Jurin said.
In the case of a serious disciplinary offence penalty, besides getting fired, those officials will not receive their state pension and will be sued to recoup their salary from the time the fraud was committed, he added.