Weerawit said the panel was preparing to conclude its initial findings and would submit its report to NLA President Pornpetch Wichitcholchai by next week.

He said the panel had received information concerning the case from the US Department of Justice and found some correlations with the NLA’s existing information.

The correlations included the timing when the procurement took place, the companies involved and the procurement procedures. The similar details suggested that corruption could have taken place, Weerawit said.

The panel has also found that foreigners at the subsidiary of the company that won the bid held company shares of more than 49 per cent, which exceeds the limit set by Thai law.

The bidding price was also found to be slightly lower than the standard price, set at Bt30.7 million, which suggested irregularities in the bidding process, Weerawit said.

He said the company’s subsidiary changed names twice when participating in procurements at Parliament House in 2001 and 2006.

The CCTV installation project involved at least 32 CCTV cameras broadcasting meetings by committees at the convention hall, as well as to a room of speakers and their deputies so that they could get updates from meetings, Weerawit said.

However, the cameras as well as other equipment were hardly used as the committees rarely broadcast their meetings, meaning the objective of the camera procurement failed, Weerawit added.

The panel will invite the company’s representatives to give testimony again after they failed to show up along with independent agencies, including the National Anti-Corruption Commission, he said.