NAKHON SAWAN, Thailand - A former school principal in Nakhon Sawan, Thailand, has been sentenced to 50 years in jail for siphoning some 596,000 baht (S$22,500) from his students’ lunch budget in 2021.

       The Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases Area 6 issued a guilty verdict against Suthep Sukthong on May 15, but the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) announced the ruling on Aug 13.

       The NACC indicted Suthep and an accomplice, Wisut Puangchampee, in 2021, accusing them of violating the Criminal Code and the NACC Act on 50 counts by siphoning funds allocated to provide lunch to students.

       The case against Wisut was dismissed because he is no longer alive.

       The NACC announced that it had resolved on July 1 to endorse the Office of the Attorney-General’s decision to not appeal against the ruling.

       Suthep was charged with obtaining a budget of 20 baht per head for providing lunch to his students, but he paid only 14 baht per head to a contracted cook for the meal.

       Due to this limited budget, the students were found to be mostly fed fried fish head or fried meatballs for lunch. Sometimes, they were served poor quality pre-cooked meals from the market, which were found to be rotten.

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       According to the NACC, the court found Suthep guilty of violating the law on 50 counts. The court initially sentenced him to 50 years for each count, totalling 250 years in jail, but commuted it by a third after he pleaded guilty.

       However, since the maximum prison allowed by law is 50 years, Suthep has been sentenced to 50 years and is ordered to return 596,208 baht he had siphoned to the Takli District Municipality. THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK