According to Thai media reports, on September 24, Thailand's Supreme Court issued a final judgment on the corruption case of former Minister of Social Development and Human Stability Wattana in the national housing project, in which a total of 14 defendants were convicted, and the court sentenced Defendant No. 1 Wattana to 99 years in prison.
The crimes are violations of article 148 of the Criminal Law (using one's position to use one's authority to force or deliberately accept money from others or to seek benefits for oneself or others), article 157 (failure to perform one's duties as a performer, causing loss to others, or failure to perform one's duties for embezzlement), etc., in total, in violation of 11 legal provisions.
The case, which began in 2019 and did not close until August 26, 2020, now that 6-7 and 10-12 defendants in the case have absconded, the court has issued arrest warrants.
Although the court sentenced Wattana to 99 years in prison, in practice Wattana only used 50 years in prison because Thai law provides for a maximum length of imprisonment of 50 years. In addition, although the court has already rendered a judgment, the parties can also appeal within 30 days under the provisions of the 2017 Constitution, and Wattana is now on bail in order to appeal to the court.