BANGKOK (AP) Thailand's Supreme Court on Tuesday sentenced a former minister and a former fire department chief to prison for corruption in connection with the purchase of fire trucks and boats for the Thai capital.
The court said former Deputy Interior Minister Pracha Maleenont had been found guilty for malfeasance in public office and price fixing over the 2004 purchases. A majority of the nine judges voted to sentence him to 12 years imprisonment.
Former Bangkok fire department chief Atilak Tanchukiat was given a 10-year jail term on the same charges.
The Supreme Court issued arrest warrants for the two, who did not show up to hear the verdict on Tuesday.
Five officials had been charged in the case involving the purchase of 315 fire trucks and 30 fireboats from the Austrian company Steyr-Daimler-Puch for 6.69 billion baht ($207 million).
