THE NATIONAL Anti-Corruption Commission started its investigation into the rice-pledging scheme after the Yingluck government repeatedly failed to heed warnings that the project was plagued with irregularities, the Supreme Court was told yesterday.

Vicha Mahakun, a former member of the NACC, told the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders that the Yingluck administration did not suspend the project after the anti-graft agency twice warned in writing that it was against the project.

There were similar warnings about irregularities in the project from the Office of the Auditor-General and the Finance Ministry’s post-audit committee, he said.

Vicha, who headed an NACC investigation into the rice-pledging scheme, was testifying as a prosecution witness in the fourth hearing in the case against former prime minister Yingluck.

Yingluck was charged with negligence that resulted in estimated damage to the state of over Bt500 billion.

In the afternoon session, Vicha told the court that the NACC did not rely solely on information from the Thailand Development Research Institute in building the case against Yingluck, as had been alleged by her supporters.

He said NACC investigators also gathered information from other sources. “We did not only use the research data from TRDI,” he said, referring to the institute’s finding that the project had incurred massive costs and had involved rampant corruption.

The TDRI had found that the country spent up to Bt985 billion buying 54.4 million tonnes of paddy over two and a half years under the rice-pledging scheme.

It put the corruption figure at an estimated Bt111 billion.

Democrat Party politician Warong Dechgitvigrom, another prosecution witness who testified yesterday, pointed to suspicious acts involving a supposed government-to-government (G-to-G) deal to sell rice to China.

In the court’s morning hearing, he said that the rice sold to China was paid through cashier checks instead of letters of credit, which was the regular practice for international trade, while the rice sold was handed over at warehouses instead of being shipped to the purchasing country.

The Democrat’s testimony backed what a key witness told the court in the previous hearing last month – that most Yingluck administration G-to-G rice deals, which totalled 14 million tonnes, were fake.

Vichai Sriprasert, honorary president of the Thai Rice Exporters’ Association, told the court that only one million tonnes of rice was sold on a G-to-G basis to China during the previous government’s tenure.

He said there was no credible evidence of combined G-to-G sales of 14 million tonnes as claimed by the previous government.

During cross-examination by defence lawyers, Warong said that the Democrat Party, when in power, implemented a similar rice-subsidy programme but, unlike the Yingluck government, it did not aim to “buy every grain of rice” or buy rice at prices much higher than the market price.

Warong led a no-confidence debate against Yingluck’s Cabinet over the rice-pledging scheme, and brought the case to the attention of the NACC.

Yingluck was present when the prosecution witnesses testified.

She arrived at the court with her legal team and was greeted by a large group of supporters, who shouted “PM Yingluck, don’t give up” and offered her red roses.

The supporters greeted Warong and other politicians from the rival Democrat Partywith boos. The other Democrats present included deputy party leader Kalaya Sophonpanich, Wirat Kalayasiri and Thaworn Senneam.