Police Arrest Three in Local Exam Cheating Scam
Police arrested three suspects in a scheme to alter civil service exam answer files, with 11 local government officials also facing charges for tampering with documents at a company in Nonthaburi Province.
On July 14, Pol. Lt. Gen. Natthasak Chawanajai, commander of the Central Investigation Bureau, disclosed that evidence clearly shows the three arrested suspects conspired to alter local government civil service exam answer files. The suspects allegedly planned and recruited local government officials to modify files at a company in Nonthaburi Province run by a man known as Ja Phichit. Although the three main suspects have refused to cooperate during questioning, police say they have solid evidence to prosecute them. Natthasak stated that investigators will issue summons within the coming week for 11 local government officials discovered tampering with answer sheets at Ja Phichit's company. The 11 officials face three charges identical to those against the three main suspects: charges related to election fraud and ballot theft, charges for document forgery and falsification, and violations of the Computer Crime Act for introducing false data into a system. Despite being government officials, the 11 are accused of committing the offenses outside working hours in a private company without exercising their official authority, allowing police to prosecute them directly without referring the case to the National Anti-Corruption Commission.