The Anti-Money Laundering Office will investigate allegations that a senior accountant and bank officer embezzled THB1.66 billion from King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang.
Songklod Sriprasong, a 40-year-old former Bank of Ayudhya branch manager, was arrested at his home in the On Nut area yesterday for allegedly colluding in embezzlement and falsifying official documents. He is suspected of aiding Amporn Naisamrit, the 56-year-old head of the university’s financial department, in cooking the books to siphon large sums of money since 2012, Thairath reported.
Amporn is under police watch since yesterday at a Bang Na hospital where he is being treated for an unspecified condition.
University officials only became aware of the problem when they attempted to withdraw money from a new account to pay for a project and were denied for having insufficient funds. They went to the Crime Suppression Division on Dec. 16 to take action after piecing together what happened.
THB80 million was supposed to be transferred into that new account in October by Amporn, who had convinced the university to open a new account at that Bank of Ayudhya, located at Big C Srinakarin, because it offered a better interest rate.
After discovering the THB80 million missing, the university reviewed its accounts and deposits from 2012 and found that it couldn’t account for THB1.58 billion which had gone missing.
Police said the money had been transferred off to several third-party accounts.
Songklod, the bank manager, denied the charges and claimed he only knows Amporn as a customer and did not realize she could involved in a fraud. Songklod was fired by Bank of Ayudhya two months ago as he did not pass probation, Bangkok Post reported.
