OFFICIALS of National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) and some police officers have arrived in Indonesia to take custody of a former executive of state-owned oil and gas company, PTT Exploration and Production Plc (PTTEP) and bring him back to Thailand tonight (Oct. 8) for prosecution over the Rolls-Royce bribery case, TV Channel 7 said.
Mr. Nitiphan Prachuapmoh, NACC’s secretary-general, said PTTEP’s former vice-president of the Thai Offshore Assets Division Mr. Phaophadet Vorabutr was wanted under an arrest warrant issued by the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct and Interpol Red Notice.
This is a significant transnational case which began when the US Department of Justice revealed its investigation into the global bribery scheme of Rolls-Royce, the UK-based manufacturer and distributor of power systems for the aerospace, defence, marine and energy sectors.
Phaophadet has been accused of facilitating the selection of Rolls-Royce Energy Systems for the procurement of Feed Gas Turbine Compressor equipment for the Arthit Field production platform project (Project PTT Arthit) valued at more than $24.6 million between 2004 and 2008.
Furthermore, he was accused of soliciting and accepting bribes from Rolls-Royce via an agent in Thailand, totaling US$300,543 —equivalent to over 10 million Thai baht at the time.
During the legal proceedings, the accused departed Thailand for Malaysia and subsequently travelled to Indonesia.
In trying to locate the accused NACC asked Thai police Foreign Affairs Division, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Indonesian Corruption Eradication Commission , and Indonesian Directorate General of Immigration for assistance.
Effective coordination and intelligence sharing enabled Indonesian authorities to successfully apprehend Phaophadet.
It should be noted that the NACC’s finding of wrongdoing is not yet final. The accused is presumed innocent until a final court judgment is rendered.
CAPTION:
Mr. Phaophadet Vorabutr being brought back to Thailand. Photo – Naewna
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