BANGKOK (AFP) — Thailand's Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to hear new corruption charges against deposed premier Thaksin Shinawatra, involving a controversial loan to military-ruled Myanmar.
The case is the second against Thaksin accepted by the court this week, after judges on Monday agreed to consider charges against the billionaire and his aides stemming from a lottery scandal.
In the latest case, military-backed investigators accused the fallen premier of conflict of interest in a loan granted by the Export-Import Bank of Thailand so that Myanmar could buy satellite services from Thaksin's Shin Satellite.
The investigators claim Thaksin wrongly ordered the Exim Bank to increase a three-billion-baht (89.6-million-dollar) loan to four billion baht, so that Myanmar's ruling junta could buy more services from ShinSat.
ShinSat is part of the Shin Corp telecom firm, which Thaksin founded. His family sold the company to Singapore's state-linked Temasek Holdings in January 2006 in a tax-free deal that prompted street protests leading to the military coup against him.
"The charges submitted by the (investigators) are enough to warrant a hearing. The court decided to take the case," Judge Panya Suthibodi told the court, setting the first hearing for September 15.
Neither Thaksin nor his lawyer attended the hearing Wednesday.
The case is the latest in the mounting legal challenges against Thaksin. He also faces trial at the Supreme Court for allegedly arranging for his wife to buy a prime chunk of real estate for just one-third its appraised value, while other graft cases are pending.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i_hSwMgs-EXFRZH2BySponJAMC1g
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — The wife of ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was found guilty Thursday of evading millions of dollars in taxes and sentenced to three years in prison.
The landmark ruling against Pojaman Shinawatra strikes a major blow to Thaksin, who was ousted in a 2006 coup. The verdict is the first in several corruption lawsuits against Thaksin and his inner circle.
Pojaman, her adopted brother Bhanapot Damapong, and her secretary were convicted of evading millions of dollars in taxes in 1997 through a complicated transfer of shares in the family's flagship business that involved placing stocks in the name of one of the family's maids.
"The three defendants have high economic and social status," said judge Pramote Pipatpramote, adding they should have aspired to set an example for society. "But, they were working together to avoid taxes, even though the taxes amounted to little compared to their assets."
The 51-year-old former first lady, in a pale blue suit and strand of pearls, looked stunned as the judge pronounced the verdict. She was promptly released on $149,000 bail and walked out of the Bangkok Criminal Court with her family into a waiting car.
Thaksin, who was ranked as Thailand's fourth-richest billionaire in 2006 prior to the coup, is now ranked 16th richest in the country, according to Forbes Asia Magazine. No longer a billionaire, he is now worth $400 million after Thai authorities froze more than $2 billion of his family's assets pending the corruption cases against him.
Thaksin's spokesman, Pongthep Thepkanjana, said lawyers planned to appeal.
"Thaksin is not disheartened," he said. "They respect the court ruling but it is not the end. We will fight until the end."
The court also sentenced her brother to three years in prison and the secretary to two years.
All three had pleaded innocent.
More than 300 police were deployed in the area amid concerns of possible protests by both Thaksin's supporters and opponents. More than 1,000 supporters mobbed the family as they exited the court.
Thaksin was ousted after being accused of massive corruption and abuse of power during his two terms as prime minister. Four corruption cases have been filed in the courts against Thaksin, two others against his wife, and three cases against two of his children. Many others are under investigation.
Thursday's case centered on a 1997 transfer of shares in Shinawatra Computer, the company that later became Shin Corp. — Thailand's biggest telecommunications company — before it was sold in 2006 to a Singapore state-owned company for $2.2 billion.
The share transfer was valued at about $22.2 million at the current exchange rate and deemed tax-free. The family had listed the deal as a transfer of shares carried out within the stock market, which is exempt from capital gains taxes.
After Thaksin's ouster, an investigation was launched into the deal that prompted the family to change its story.
Pojaman, through her lawyer, said she bought the shares from a family maid and transferred them to her brother as a gift, which under Thai law is not taxable.
Thailand's Assets Examination Committee determined last year, however, that a check issued to the maid was later deposited in a new bank account belonging to Thaksin's wife.
The committee said Pojaman and her brother had misrepresented the nature of the transaction to avoid paying taxes and should pay back taxes of about $16.4 million. Thaksin was not implicated in the tax evasion case.
Thaksin was known to have transferred shares in Shin Corp., his telecommunications empire, to his maid, chauffeur, relatives and others to shed holdings before becoming prime minister in 2001 to skirt conflict of interest laws.
Thaksin was deposed after months of street demonstrations in Bangkok demanding he step down because of the allegations. He returned to Thailand earlier this year after his political allies in the People's Power Party set up a coalition government.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h6ljC-lNwiNjsZvTOWKfVTImItGgD928LBB80
After he loses power in government, all the worms start crawling out.
He lost power because of corruption ?
Originally posted by maurizio13:Thai court takes new case against Thaksin over Myanmar loan
1 day ago
BANGKOK (AFP) — Thailand's Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to hear new corruption charges against deposed premier Thaksin Shinawatra, involving a controversial loan to military-ruled Myanmar.
The case is the second against Thaksin accepted by the court this week, after judges on Monday agreed to consider charges against the billionaire and his aides stemming from a lottery scandal.
In the latest case, military-backed investigators accused the fallen premier of conflict of interest in a loan granted by the Export-Import Bank of Thailand so that Myanmar could buy satellite services from Thaksin's Shin Satellite.
The investigators claim Thaksin wrongly ordered the Exim Bank to increase a three-billion-baht (89.6-million-dollar) loan to four billion baht, so that Myanmar's ruling junta could buy more services from ShinSat.
ShinSat is part of the Shin Corp telecom firm, which Thaksin founded. His family sold the company to Singapore's state-linked Temasek Holdings in January 2006 in a tax-free deal that prompted street protests leading to the military coup against him.
"The charges submitted by the (investigators) are enough to warrant a hearing. The court decided to take the case," Judge Panya Suthibodi told the court, setting the first hearing for September 15.
Neither Thaksin nor his lawyer attended the hearing Wednesday.
The case is the latest in the mounting legal challenges against Thaksin. He also faces trial at the Supreme Court for allegedly arranging for his wife to buy a prime chunk of real estate for just one-third its appraised value, while other graft cases are pending.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i_hSwMgs-EXFRZH2BySponJAMC1g