US verdict puts onus on NACC

       Yesterday a jury appointed by a Los Angeles court found Gerald and Patricia Green guilty of paying over US$1.8 million (about 72 million baht at the time) in bribes to the governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), in exchange for a lucrative contract to host the Bangkok International Film Festival (BKK IFF) from 2002 to 2006.
       With this verdict, there can be no more excuses or delays from the Thai anti-graft agency in launching an investigation into Juthamas Siriwan, the former TAT governor who granted the film festival deals, along with other contracts worth more than $10 million, to the Greens during those scandalous years.
       The National Anti-Corruption Committee (NACC)is scheduled to meet today to discuss the case. The swift and decisive trial of the Greens by the US court means any further procrastination by the NACC in questioning the involvement of Ms Juthamas would greatly tarnish the authority of the local anti-graft body.
       This much is obvious: Someone in the TAT received kickback money from the Greens. It would be a gross lapse of duty if the NACC fails to find out who.
       In fact, the official inquiry into Ms Juthamas' role has been long overdue. The Greens were arrested by the FBI in December 2007 to face charges of conspiracy,bribing a foreign official and money laundering. The FBI affidavit clearly states that the Greens, who ran the LA-based Film Festival Management Inc,"bribed a senior Thai official of the Tourism Authority of Thailand for the award of a contract to run a state-funded international film festival held annually in Bangkok".
       The affidavit doesn't name names, but it states that Mr Green, now 75, had a close relationship with "the Governor". All meetings between Mr Green and "The Governor", the report says, were held behind closed doors: even Mr Green's wife Patricia wasn't allowed in.The report details the payment of "commission money"to "the Governor's daughter".
       A day after the Greens' arrest in December 2007, Ms Juthamas resigned from Puea Pandin Party and pulled out of the Dec 23 general election. She has, however,continued to deny any wrongdoing from the beginning.
       During Ms Juthamas' tenure as TAT governor, the BKK IFF, a movie event funded by taxpayers' money,was allocated a spectacular budget of 200 million baht.Mr Green's company was in charge of film selection and inviting celebrities, but during those years the BKK IFF was disparaged by critics and international journalists as an inflated and unnecessarily expensive circus that had no real concerns for local audiences or the Thai film industry. It also raised the question of whether a tourism board was the best agency to manage a movie festival.
       When Ms Juthamas stepped down in mid-2007, the contracts with Mr Green's firm were cancelled and the TAT assigned the Federation of National Film Associations and Thai Film Directors Association to organise the festival. The budget has dropped to around 45 million baht. This year the festival will run from Sept 24 to 30, and although it remains a league away from the major film festivals in Asia, the last two editions of the BKK IFF were modest in nature and the event has regained a degree of dignity and level-headedness.
       In any case, the name BKK IFF has been blemished.The bribery scandal is arguably the most shameful incident in the history of Thailand's entertainment sector. Money changed hands. Laws were broken. The American court has made a show of justice. Now the NACC must do the same.