Thailand awaits British verification over Rolls-Royce bribery scandals

Thailand's Office of Auditor-General is awaiting verification by British authorities to names and other pieces of evidence involving bribery scandals between British engineering giant Rolls-Royce and Thai airline and oil firms.

Auditor General Pisit Leelavachiropas said on Monday he already has obtained the names of the Thai nationals who had been allegedly connected with Thai Airways International, Petroleum Authority of Thailand and PTT Exploration and Production Plc. and had allegedly received bribes from Rolls-Royce over the last decades.

The alleged kickback, which occurred between 1991 and 2013, amounted to millions of U.S. dollars.

He said his agency had requested Britain's Serious Fraud Office to verify those names in question as well as other pieces of evidence to help with the ongoing investigation into the alleged corruption on the part of the Thai nationals, known to have performed as executive officials of the state-owned airline and oil firms.

"Though the offering and receiving of commission payments may not be illegal in foreign countries, it is illegal in Thailand. The names of those persons who had allegedly received bribes from Rolls-Royce would be divulged to the public soon," Pisit said.

The Office of the Auditor-General's officials were looking into information pertaining to procurement projects at the Thai Airways and PTT headquarters which may have involved purchases of Rolls-Royce engines.

Besides Pisit's agency, the National Anti-Corruption Commission has launched parallel investigation into the bribery scandals while the Thai government expected those state firms to come up with results of internal probes within a 30-days time from last week. Endit