A real estate dealer has been sentenced to 12 years in prison under the lèse majesté law for making claims about the former royal consort for business interests.   

On Tuesday, 5 April 2016, the Criminal Court sentenced Boontham Boonthepprathan, 65, a property dealer, to 16 years in jail under Article 112 of the Criminal Code, the lèse majesté law.  The court reduced the sentenced by one fourth to 12 years because the accused was cooperative during the trial.

In 2015, Boontham was indicted under Article 112 for claiming that he had connections with Pol Lt Gen Pongpat Chayaphan, former Commander of the Central Investigation Bureau and a relative of Srirasmi Suwadee, then the royal consort to the Crown Prince, to help Setthawut Pengdit, another land broker, acquire the title deed to a large plot of land in Pak Chong District of Nakhon Ratchasima Province.     

Part of the land overlapped with a military area, which cannot be included a title deed.  

Last year, the Criminal Court sentenced Setthawut to five years in jail under the lèse majesté law. The court, however, halved the jail term to 2.5 years because Setthawut pleaded guilty.

In early 2015, the Criminal Court sentenced Pongpat and Pol Maj Gen Kowit Wongrungroj, former Deputy Commander of the Central Investigation Bureau, to 12 years in prison in total under three offences.

The two received five years each for the first two offences under Article 112 and Article 157, malfeasance in office, of the Criminal Code, and two years for running a gambling den, in violation of the 1935 Gambling Act.

After the two were arrested in late 2014, more than 30 suspects, including four siblings and the parents of Srirasmi, were arrested for associating with the monarchy-citing network of the high-ranking police officer. The scandal culminated in the divorce of Srirasmi from the Crown Prince and her resignation from her status as a member of the Royal Family.