Thailand’s National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) on Monday confirmed it will proceed with a probe into alleged bribery involving engine maker Rolls-Royce and Thai Airways International, in spite of investigation hurdles.
Rolls-Royce Limited owned a British luxury-car and aero engine manufacturing business founded in 1904 by Charles Stewart Rolls and Sir Frederick Henry Royce.
The company is one of the world’s leading producers of engines for large civil aircraft and corporate jets, also supporting a range of products and services for air, sea and land applications
In mid-January, British media reported that Rolls-Royce had admitted in the High Court in London to paying bribes worth millions of dollars in seven countries, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Russia, Nigeria, China and Malaysia.
The company apologised for the cases and its CEO Warren East said the behaviour was “completely unacceptable.”
On Friday, NACC Secretary General Sansern Poljieak told newsmen that the British Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the United States’ Department of Justice were reluctant to provide information on the cases to their Thai counterparts due to a lack of unity among Thai agencies.
Sansern’s comments came after his organisation’s teleconference with the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) on Thursday.
“The NACC is scheduled to submit information on the case it has gathered to the SFO this week,’’ Sansern said.
In early January, Thailand’s junta-appointed National Reform Steering Assembly passed a proposal under which politicians found guilty of corruption involving over 1 billion baht (27.9 million dollars) could face the death penalty.
“The proposal will be submitted to the cabinet and then to parliament for further deliberations,’’ the assembly said. (dpa/NAN)
