THE government expects to identify all agents responsible for 80 per cent of the financial damages incurred by the Yingluck government’s rice mortgage scheme in the next few weeks, said Justice Minister General Paiboon Koomchaya, who chairs the Anti-Corruption Operation Centre (ACOC).
Yingluck Shinawatra and her cabinet were accused of being negligent in the scheme, which was allegedly plagued with corruption and caused damage to the state worth billions of baht.
She was impeached, and now faces a criminal court case and a liability charge subject to an administrative ordered issued by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.
The Prayut government said the estimated damages incurred in the scheme were about Bt140 billion, and held Yingluck accountable for 20 per cent of the total because of her role as head of the government at the time and chair of the national rice policy committee.
The government is now ready to identify those responsible for the remaining 80 per cent of the damages, Paiboon said.
He added that concerned agencies already had enough information to establish wrongdoing and the people involved.
The centre has assigned two sub-panels to conduct in-depth investigations, which should conclude by the stated deadline of a few weeks.
The centre has already said three groups should be held responsible, including Yingluck’s cabinet members and the rice committee members, concerned government officials at the Commerce and the Agriculture ministries, and businesspeople.
Paiboon said determining responsible businesspeople could take longer because many were involved at various stages of the scheme.