Ex-TAT boss' 50 year jail term upheld over US graft case

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Ex-TAT boss' jail term upheld over US graft case

 

Juthamas Siriwan addressing the opening ceremony of the 2006 Bangkok International Film Festival in Bangkok.//Photo: AFP

 

An appeals court on Wednesday upheld a lower court’s prison sentence of 50 years on the former governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Juthamas Siriwan, for accepting Bt62 million in bribes from an American couple seeking the rights to host a Bangkok film festival between 2002 and 2007.

The jail term of 44 years for her daughter, Jittisopha – sentenced for helping hide the cash in overseas bank accounts in 2017 – was reduced to 40 years after the court said she was not involved in bribery in the 2007 case.

 

Juthamas was found guilty on 11 counts, with six years for each count, totalling 66 years.

 

However, according to the law, a convict cannot be imprisoned for longer than 50 years. Jittisopha was earlier found guilty on 11 counts, with four years for each charge, totalling 44 years.

 

The mother and the daughter have been in custody since 2017 after the lower court denied their bail request, fearing that they might flee the country.

 

However, the Appeals Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases cancelled the earlier order to seize Bt62 million found to have been earned dishonestly, saying the public prosecutors did not make the request.

 

According to the lower court’s ruling, both defendants were found guilty of colluding to avoid free competition in favour of Gerald Green and Patricia Green, a Los Angeles-based couple.

 

The court found that the couple made 59 transfers into the bank accounts of Jittisopha and her unnamed friends, totalling US$1.82 million. 

 

The Greens served time in a US jail for running the scheme, which saw them funnel money to Juthamas over five years to secure rights to run the annual Bangkok International Film Festival.

 

The contracts enabled the couple to generate more than US$13.5 million in revenue, according to the FBI.

 

Defence lawyer Suchart Chomkul and the public prosecutors said they would study the ruling before deciding whether to submit the case to the Supreme Court. 

 

Both Juthamas and her daughter showed little emotion during the sentencing. They were taken back to jail.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30369047

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-05-07

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[petermik]

OOOOP,s.....hope they show this on the news bulletins here,might just make others think ????

[DepDavid]

The long arm of the law!!!

[Orton Rd]

So what did she do wrong from a Thai point of view?

[Eric Loh]

10 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

So what did she do wrong from a Thai point of view?

2002 to 2007 may be the clue. Still she got what she deserved. 

[RJRS1301]

Seems like a very long sentence for what is not a large amount of money

Yes fraud and bribery should be punished, but 50 years for about 50k USD??????

[madmen]

10 minutes ago, RJRS1301 said:

Seems like a very long sentence for what is not a large amount of money

Yes fraud and bribery should be punished, but 50 years for about 50k USD??????

?

[KhaoYai]

17 minutes ago, RJRS1301 said:

Seems like a very long sentence for what is not a large amount of money

Yes fraud and bribery should be punished, but 50 years for about 50k USD??????

Americans would love your exchange rate. The figure is 62 million baht!!! I think that's a little more that 50,000 USD.

[hellstens]

Strange low they have in Thailand. 

A meth-fuelled driver caused a fatal accident that kills 2 people

just get 4 years in jail  

Edited May 8, 2019 by hellstens

[worgeordie]

1 hour ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

However, the Appeals Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases cancelled the earlier order to seize Bt62 million found to have been earned dishonestly, saying the public prosecutors did not make the request.

So does that mean they got to keep the money ???

regards worgeordie

[observer90210]

Is the law in Thailand applied by politics or from democratic texts of law ?

[from the home of CC]

yes people talk about slaps on the wrist here in Thailand for convictions, the Americans in this case received 6 months home arrest and a fine (after making over 10 million US on the deal)..

[LomSak27]

1 hour ago, Eric Loh said:

1 hour ago, Orton Rd said:

So what did she do wrong from a Thai point of view?

2002 to 2007 may be the clue. Still she got what she deserved. 

Ya figure ?!

Perhaps she got such a big sentence to make her cough up a little of that money, grease the skids, and get a reduced sentence?!    Plus if the corruption is from a foreign source, not from Thailand, the land of happiness and thainess, it plays well to go maximum sentence on it and stoke the outrage   about those who come to the LOS and corrupt the happy people.

[webfact]

Appeals court upholds guilty verdict against ex-TAT governor, her daughter

By Kesinee Tangkhieo 
The Nation 

 

File photo/Former Tourism Authority of Thailand's governor Juthamas Siriwan.

 

The Court of Appeals yesterday upheld the guilty verdict for bribery against a former Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) governor and her daughter.

 

It also sentenced both of them to lengthy jail terms, with Juthamas Siriwan, 72, getting 50 years in jail and her 45-year-old daughter, Jittisopa Siriwan, 40 years. 

 

The Court of Appeals, however, chose to overturn the lower court’s order to confiscate Bt62 million from the defendants’ overseas bank account on grounds that the plaintiffs had not demanded the funds to be seized in the first place. 

 

The jail term for Juthamas is the maximum courts can deliver for her crime, and the Court of Appeals, too decided that she remain behind bars for half a century.

 

The court, however, decided to lower Jittisopa’s jail term from 44 years – as ruled by the lower court in 2017 – to 40 years on grounds that evidence of her being involved in one of the 11 instances of bribery was not very clear. 

 

The defendants were found to have received more than Bt60 million in bribes in exchange for granting US businessman Gerald Green and his wife, Patricia, the right to hold the Bangkok International Film Festival from 2002 to 2007. 

 

The crimes were not detected until the Greens were investigated back home years later. 

 

Thai public prosecutors arraigned Juthamas and Jittisopa in 2015, several years after Juthamas had given up the helm of TAT. 

 

The defendants denied any wrongdoing, claiming that the Bt60-million-plus wired to Jittisopa’s and her friends’ bank accounts was payment for counselling Jittisopa had provided the Greens. 

 

The Court of Appeals found the defendants’ claim unconvincing, pointing out that Jittisopa had no experience as counsellor and there was no reason why she would be paid such high amounts for such a service. Also, the money had been paid just two weeks before the company founded by the Greens won the right to organise the film festivals. It is reported that the couple earned huge amounts from the festivals. 

 

The mother and daughter remained calm as the verdicts were read out yesterday. 

 

Both have been behind bars since the court of primary instances found them guilty of bribery in 2017. Their bail request was rejected.

Their lawyer Suchart Chomkul said his clients have yet to decide if they want to take the case to the Supreme Court. 

 

“We have to study the Court of Appeals’ ruling and discuss it with our team of lawyers first,” he said. 

 

Public prosecutors, meanwhile, said the case against the duo had been filed before the new law governing corruption cases came into effect in 2016. “We will study the law carefully before deciding whether to take the case to the Supreme Court,” a prosecutor said.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30369062

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-05-09

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[nobodysfriend]

Taking a 60 mio bribe ... what thai person , in a relevant position , would refuse that ...?

If ever somebody would investigate the fortunes of public persons , ( politicians or local government leaders ) , would possibly find a lot of mysterious transactions , I guess .

In this case , they will spend a lot of time in prison , because they did not bribe the right person when it was time to do this ...

[jaltsc]

15 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

So what did she do wrong from a Thai point of view?

That's a dumb question...She didn't share her ill gotten booty with her higher ups, the long arm (with greedy hands) of the law. and anyone else who might feel entitled to a piece of the money pie. In Thailand, one has to make sure EVERYONE gets a share. The one person who is ignored will sing 100 times louder than a drunk Karaoke patron. 

Edited May 9, 2019 by jaltsc

[mikebell]

A further charge of inflating tourist figures was dismissed; the judge said it was part of the job description.

[hotchilli]

2 hours ago, nobodysfriend said:

Taking a 60 mio bribe ... what thai person , in a relevant position , would refuse that ...?

If ever somebody would investigate the fortunes of public persons , ( politicians or local government leaders ) , would possibly find a lot of mysterious transactions , I guess .

In this case , they will spend a lot of time in prison , because they did not bribe the right person when it was time to do this ...

They do the jail time but the money stays in the family ?

[sammieuk1]

They will need to build a prison a day to bang up all the embezzlers here for a 50 stretch ????

[Krataiboy]

17 hours ago, from the home of CC said:

yes people talk about slaps on the wrist here in Thailand for convictions, the Americans in this case received 6 months home arrest and a fine (after making over 10 million US on the deal)..

It's all about who you know, here and everywhere else. The higher up the feeding chain you happen to be, the more you can get away with. 

[Eric Loh]

3 hours ago, jaltsc said:

That's a dumb question...She didn't share her ill gotten booty with her higher ups, the long arm (with greedy hands) of the law. and anyone else who might feel entitled to a piece of the money pie. In Thailand, one has to make sure EVERYONE gets a share. The one person who is ignored will sing 100 times louder than a drunk Karaoke patron. 

The biggest wrong was that she didn't snuggled up to the junta big wigs. See the benefits that Prawit, Ahbisit and Suthep got being friends of the junta.  

[overherebc]

19 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

So what did she do wrong from a Thai point of view?

Got caught??

[Monkeyrobot]

I won’t be calling her if I need counseling. 

[LomSak27]

20 hours ago, DepDavid said:

The long arm of the law!!!

If the US did not go after The Greens, do you think Thailand would have had a clue anything was wrong ....     Long arm my hiney.

[happy chappie]

The good thing shes got to look forward to is a gold watch for 50 years service.they just can't help themselves,some people call it thainess,I call it thieving.

[RJRS1301]

Seems like an excessive sentence for what is not all that much money in the scheme of things.

Murderers get a lot less.

 

[oldrunner]

Can never understand the Thai justice system. In this case, two ladies, who harmed no one, made some money. Yet a drugged driver is responsible for the deaths of two people, gets off with, at most, 4 years? Does not equate money versus human lives.

[LomSak27]

5 hours ago, Krataiboy said:

23 hours ago, from the home of CC said:

yes people talk about slaps on the wrist here in Thailand for convictions, the Americans in this case received 6 months home arrest and a fine (after making over 10 million US on the deal)..

It's all about who you know, here and everywhere else. The higher up the feeding chain you happen to be, the more you can get away with. 

 

hmm well perhaps you do not know much about the case. Given this article, not surprising - You can pull up a Stanford Law School pdf on it if you want to, but methinks you have better things to do. The Americans got such a reduced sentence because of course they plead that this is how business is done in Thailand. And of course they had tried multiple times to it legal and legit but had been …. Turned aside.    It was only when money was offered that the deal could be struck. Even the judge was sympathetic BUT, did have to sentence. These facts of course were not and cannot be mentioned in the Thai article above for obvious reasons.

Actually it is probably best you do not read about it.    heh

 

[Eric Loh]

12 minutes ago, LomSak27 said:

 

hmm well perhaps you do not know much about the case. Given this article, not surprising - You can pull up a Stanford Law School pdf on it if you want to, but methinks you have better things to do. The Americans got such a reduced sentence because of course they plead that this is how business is done in Thailand. And of course they had tried multiple times to it legal and legit but had been …. Turned aside.    It was only when money was offered that the deal could be struck. Even the judge was sympathetic BUT, did have to sentence. These facts of course were not and cannot be mentioned in the Thai article above for obvious reasons.

Actually it is probably best you do not read about it.    heh

 

In Thailand, it’s who you know rather than what you know that matters in any corruption case. 

[Spidey]

4 hours ago, LomSak27 said:

If the US did not go after The Greens, do you think Thailand would have had a clue anything was wrong ....     Long arm my hiney.

I think it was more the fact that the Greens were prosecuted in the US and the money trail would have been exposed in court, that the Thais felt that they needed to reciprocate at their end.

 

If the Greens hadn't been prosecuted neither would the TAT boss have been.