The committee’s findings were submitted to Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on May 30, the Bangkok Post reports a source at the ministry saying.
The source said Anutin sent a letter to Labour Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn yesterday (June 12), outlining the committee’s findings and directing Mr Phiphat to act in accordance with relevant ministerial regulations.
The investigation, ordered by Anutin, found that the SKYY9 Centre on Rama IX Road was worth about B3 billion at the time of purchase between 2022 and 2023. However, the SSO, which is under the Ministry of Labour, purchased it for B7bn.
Earlier on Tuesday, Rukchanok Srinork, a People’s Party (PP) MP for Bangkok and a whistleblower in the SSO investment scandal, said via Facebook that she learned the fact-finding committee found the appraisal price of the SKYY9 Centre building was actually around B3bn, consistent with her previous claims.
She called on Anutin to pursue legal action against those allegedly responsible for the unsound investment.
The opposition MP plans to submit a petition today to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) requesting a probe into Deputy Commerce Minister Suchart Chomklin, who served as labour minister at the time the building purchase deal was made.
According to Ms Rukchanok, Mr Suchart should be held responsible for allowing Social Security Fund money to be used to purchase it at the alleged inflated price.
Sen Alongkot Worakee, in his capacity as chairman of the Senate committee monitoring state budget management, yesterday said the market value of the building should be between B3.42bn and B3.86bn, not B7bn as claimed by the two valuers whose appraisals were used when the SSO decided to invest.
He said opinions from the Valuers Association of Thailand (VAT) were also considered in the fact-finding committee’s investigation.
In a confidential letter dated May 20, the VAT concluded that Edmund Tie & Company (Thailand) Co and CPM Capital Co, the two valuers, had not provided the association with the information they used to assess the building’s market value for the SSO, as requested, he said.
The VAT, therefore, evaluated the building’s market value using data from secondary sources and additional information compiled from various other reliable sources.
In this regard, the Ministry of Labour is being urged to take action based on these findings, which the Senate committee will next forward to the NACC, the Central Investigation Bureau, and the State Audit Office, said Mr Alongkot.