Engineer says his signature was forged in collapsed building’s papers

AN ENGINEER whose name appeared in documents as having designed and supervised the construction of the State Audit building that collapsed during the huge March 28 earthquake claims his signature was forged and he was not involved with this project, Amarin TV said.

Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong today (Apr. 15) joined senior Department of Special Investigation (DSI) officers in questioning Mr. Somkiat Chusangsuk, chairman of the Engineering Institute of Thailand’s Engineering Clinic Subcommittee under Royal Patronage as well as a senator in the environmental engineering branch.

Afterwards Tawee said initial investigation showed that the company supervising the construction of the 30-storey highrise had named Somkiat as the engineer with his signature being in the documents. These documents were handed over to DSI by the Office of the Attorney-General.

However, as Somkiat denied having signed the papers, DSI officers got him to sign his real signature to compare with what appeared in the papers. The two signatures will be scientifically verified and if forgery is found then the person impersonating him will be prosecuted.

Normally, when a government agency builds something, the Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning or the Fine Arts Department would be the designer. However, when it came to the State Audit building neither agency could complete the work within 180-day timeframe, which is not unusual.

With it now being revealed that the alleged designer of the building is 85 years old investigators are busy collecting evidence and have requested for information from the Engineering Council to help solve this case.

Pol. Lt. Col. Suravut Rangsai, DSI’s deputy director-general, said the information received today is part of the nominee case, which will be beneficial overall. This is one of the jigsaw puzzle pieces that will help connect the whole story.

The scope of the forged documents has to be checked and whether forged papers were used for other projects prior to this, though initially none has been found but investigation will be expanded.

Somkiat had yesterday filed a complaint at Wang Thonglang police station that another person had falsely used his name and forged his signature.

He confirmed that he is not the designer and supervisor of this project but would have to consult his lawyer on whether or not to pursue a civil case.

Even so he admitted that he has known Mr. Patiwat (surname not mentioned), the person authorised to sign on behalf of PKW joint venture, for a long time but clarified that he has not supervised any construction project for over 20 years.

Regarding red dust and alleged substandard steel collected from the factory of the supplier to the collapsed building, Xin Ke Yuan Steel Ltd (SKY), Pol. Lt. Col. Woranan Srilam, director of the Consumer Protection Litigation Division, said the Industry Works Department had sent a letter asking to cooperate in the investigation of the red dust with this being submitted to DSI’s chief for approval.

Regarding the steel DSI officers and representatives from the Thai Industrial Standards Institute (TISI) had together collected as evidence, this is undergoing scientific examination. If found to be substandard additional charges will be filed.

Photo: Amarin TV

This report was originally published by www.thainewsroom.com