The ministry’s deputy permanent secretary, Surapong Jiasakul, heads the probe.

“We will find out if any person claimed illegitimate gains,” Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Grisada Boonrach said yesterday.

He said representatives from various organisations had been invited to join the ministry’s fact-finding committee so as to ensure a transparent probe.

It was reported recently that a firm belonging to the wife of Pairoj Hangsaengchai, a veterinarian and former deputy director-general at |the Livestock Development Department (LDD), had long supplied rabies vaccines to the LDD.

“Even the LDD chief will have to be investigated for alleged negligence,” Grisada said. “If the state suffered damages, officials involved shall be held accountable.”

An official convicted of abuse of authority or negligence is liable to a jail term of up to 10 years and/or a fine of up to Bt20,000, he noted.