By Thai Newsroom Reporters
DEPUTY PRIME Minister-cum-Agriculture & Cooperatives Minister Thammanat Prompao was dared today (Oct.8) to testify before a House committee tomorrow (Oct.9) pertaining to his alleged association with Benjamin Mauerberger, the South African-born wheeler-dealer suspected of clandestine connections with money-laundering, scam rackets in Cambodia.
House Committee on State Security, Thai Border Affairs, National Strategies & Reforms Chair People’s MP Rangsiman Rome confirmed today (Oct.8) that Thammanat has been summoned again for testimony before his panel tomorrow after he had earlier failed to do so in regard to allegations that he had been more or less associated with the international wheeler-dealer, also known as Ben Smith, who acts as adviser to senior Cambodian leader Hun Sen.
De facto Pheu Thai boss-turned-inmate Thaksin Shinawatra had allegedly introduced Thammanat, the de facto boss of the Klatham, partner of the current Bhumjaithai-led coalition government, to Ben Smith. Thammanat had been earlier viewed as personally close to Thaksin who reportedly had vested interests in Cambodia.
Rangsiman insisted that the deputy prime minister-cum-agriculture & cooperatives minister shed light on his alleged connection with Ben Smith by testifying once and for all before the House committee though he had apparently changed his mind to not file a libel lawsuit against the House committee chair against whom Ben Smith has filed a 100-million-baht defamatory lawsuit.
However, the de facto Klatham boss broke ranks with the de facto Pheu Thai boss when the former jumped onto the Bhumjaithai bandwagon and joined the current coalition government under Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.
Ben Smith, the notorious wheeler-dealer who had arranged business dealings on behalf of the likes of Thaksin and Hun Sen such as the reported purchase of a Bombardier Global 7500 private jet for the de facto Pheu Thai boss, had been suspected of involvement in the funneling of ill-gotten cash from Thailand to Cambodia and vice versa.
Rangsiman said the Cambodia-based, cross-border scams have easily preyed on unsuspecting Thai victims and caused immense damage to Thailand’s social and economic conditions and called on the Thai authorities to immediately combat such transnational crimes perpetrated by those scammers, money launderers and other criminal racketeers from inside Cambodia.
Personal relationships between Thaksin and Hun Sen had apparently turned sour after a spontaneous cellphone talk between the senior Cambodian leader and the de facto Pheu Thai boss’s daughter/court-deposed prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra had been exposed online, followed by five-day clashes along the disputed common border between Thai and Cambodian armed forces resulting in many fatalities and injuries on both sides.
Meanwhile, the House committee on State Security, Thai Border Affairs, National Strategies & Reforms chair who is concurrently an MP of the People’s called on the Bhumjaithai-led government to crack down on illicit offers and reception of payoffs in exchange for Thai naturalisation of aliens which may have allegedly involved government personnel.
Rangsiman encouraged Anutin who concurrently acts as interior minister to take action against any government officials who may have been involved in any kickbacks in cash over the Thai naturalisation process where as many as 480,000 aliens may legally become Thai nationals sooner or later. The least payoff reportedly amounts to 5,000 baht per person.
He said the Ministry of Interior’s relevant officials including the prime minister-cum-interior minister himself could possibly be charged with undue involvement in bribery if they eventually failed to put an end to it.
CAPTION:
Peoples MP Rangsiman Rome, left in above photo and right in Front Page, and Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Agriculture & Cooperatives Minister Thammanat Prompao. Photo above Naewna, Front Page – TV Channel 3
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