Jail term for ex-DSI chief

BANGKOK, Jan 19 (TNA) -- Tarit Pengdith, former director-general of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), was sentenced to three months in jail and fined 5,000 baht for asset concealment. The Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions made a unanimous decision on the sentence. The court also banned him from holding a political position for five years after April 3, 2017, when he was dismissed as an advisor to the Prime Minister's Office. The court found him guilty of failing to inform the National Anti-Corruption Commission of four bank accounts, investment in two companies and buildings on two land plots that belonged to him and his wife Wassamon, as well as money in two other bank accounts of Piyarerk Atthakanrat, a nephew of Ms Wassamon, during his past tenure as the DSI chief. Originally the court sentenced Tarit to six months in jail and fined him 10,000 baht. His confession caused the court to halve the punishment. Besides, it suspended the jail sentence for two years because he had not been sentenced to imprisonment. (TNA)