AEC Freezes Thaksin's Assets, Proceeds From Shin Corp Sale

[animatic]

The sound of the bell rings out.

[sriracha john]

Thaksin assets case to start in mid-July

The Supreme Court yesterday set July 16 for the beginning of its hearing into the 76 Billion Baht asset seizure case involving ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra and his family members.

The senior court also rejected a defence argument for an oral presentation of the opening statement, although it agreed to authorise the defence to gather and file additional evidence as deemed necessary.

The ruling against the oral statement was seen to pre-empt any attempt at theatrics. The high court allowed the opening statements for the defence and the prosecution to be submitted in written form.

In an earlier decision, the defence request for Thaksin to give his statement via video was also rejected.

But his arguments will be accepted in writing.

For the upcoming testimony, the court instructed the defence and prosecution to file respective lists of witnesses for examination and cross-examination 15 days before each hearing.

Defence witnesses will testify first, before the prosecution's. Should witnesses fail to appear according to the schedule, each side is obligated to rearrange the order of appearances so as not to disrupt the timetable.

The defence is due to call 56 witnesses, while the prosecution will summon 58. Each side has about 25 court sessions.

-- The Nation 2009-05-29

[sriracha john]

Thaksin's asset case starts in July

The Supreme Court will begin hearing testimony of witnesses for the defence in the trial of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra on July 16 in his 76 Billion-Baht asset seizure case. But the court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions, through a panel of nine judges led by senior judge Somsak Netmai, yesterday rejected Thaksin's request for a proxy to deliver his opening statement orally.

The court insisted Thaksin file his opening statement in writing.

The case was filed by the Office of the Attorney-General when it petitioned the court to seize Thaksin's assets suspected of having been accumulated through conflicts of interest when he was premier from 2001 to 2006. The court set the hearing for 9.30am on July 16 and will start with defence witnesses.

The criminal procedure act governing cases involving holders of political office requires the accused to first prove to the court the source of their assets.

Continued:

-- Bangkok Post 2009-05-29

[sriracha john]

Court Turns Down Thaksin's Request on Assets Case

The Supreme Court’s criminal division for political office-holders has turned down a request from exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra asking the court to allow his lawyer to verbally give an opening statement in his assets-seizure case.

The Supreme Court’s criminal division for political office-holders rejected Thaksin's petition asking that his lawyer be allowed to verbally deliver an opening statement in the case. The court ruled that Thaksin has a right to give an opening statement to the court via written testimony, as granted in a previous court ruling.

The court said he must abide by that previous ruling. Thaksin's whereabouts are unknown. A fugitive from the Thai justice system, he was previously sentenced to two years in prison for abuse of power while serving as prime minister. He was ousted in a military coup in 2006.

The court also ruled that lawyers for the plaintiff and defendant must send their prepared questions for all witnesses to the court before witnesses begin testifying at 9.30 a.m. on July 16th.

Last year, the Attorney-General's office petitioned the court asking to seize 76 billion baht of Thaksin's assets. The office claims Thaksin gained the assets by means that represented conflicts of interests while in office. Thakin’s assets are now frozen by court order.

-- Tan Network 2009-05-28

[JFitzgerald]

Panthongthae ruling backed

The Supreme Administrative Court yesterday rejected a case filed by ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra's son against the Revenue Department.

The court upheld the lower Central Administrative Court's verdict that the case was beyond its scope of jurisdiction.

Panthongtae Shinawatra filed the case against the Revenue Department, its director-general and five other department officials for confiscation of 5.9 Billion Baht in unpaid tax for Panthongtae's and his sister Pinthongta's sale of Shin Corp shares in early 2006.

Thaksin's son had brought the case to the lower court, asking for the asset confiscation to be lifted and the defendants to pay him 100 Million Baht in damages.

- The Nation / 2009-04-03

An article in another paper this morning describes how Panthongtae and Pingthongta are now going to sue the Revenue Department in Central Tax Court for a revocation of the order and the return of their tax payments because they feel it was unfair.

[ThailandTigers]

If you are interested in why Thaksin does anything, all you need to do it look at this thread. He wants to keep his money. The Red Shirt for Democracy movement? It's really the "Paid people who are trying to cause social unrest so that Thaksin can effect a change in government and secure his money" people.

[Donnyboy]

An article in another paper this morning describes how Panthongtae and Pingthongta are now going to sue the Revenue Department in Central Tax Court for a revocation of the order and the return of their tax payments because they feel it was unfair.

whens tax ever fair?

welcome to the real world

[brahmburgers]

An article in another paper this morning describes how Panthongtae and Pingthongta are now going to sue the Revenue Department in Central Tax Court for a revocation of the order and the return of their tax payments because they feel it was unfair.

whens tax ever fair?

welcome to the real world

Daddy said he's the smartest man in Thailand, and he has the highest paid and smartest lawyers, and he shows us how to outsmart the taxman, and hide our family money in all sorts of places - some of the places are fun to visit, like Caymen Islands and Switzerland. Daddy used to be the boss of everybody, but now he's not, but he's still the best at hiding money - so why is the mean Thai government people trying to make us pay tax that we tricked them in to not noticing right away. I'm mad at everybody because they keep picking on me and my sisters and my dad and mom.

[brahmburgers]

If you are interested in why Thaksin does anything, all you need to do it look at this thread. He wants to keep his money. The Red Shirt for Democracy movement? It's really the "Paid people who are trying to cause social unrest so that Thaksin can effect a change in government and secure his money" people.

I must take issue with one word in your otherwise correct statement. The word 'his'

The many billions of baht were never 'his', or at least the lion's share of it. He, along with everyone else who gets filthy rich, is required to pay taxes. He put a lot of calories and lawyers' fees in to skirting that issue, and that's what keeps coming around and biting him on the butt.

Even so, I fully agree with you that the entire Red Shirt movement is a paid affair (guess by whom) in order for the paymaster to either get the ill-begotten money back and/or get himself back in the power seat so he can get his grubby hands on the frozen money - by doing so, he'll also have his hands full with punishing those who got out of lockstep with his dictates.

[SomdetK]

Thaksin assets case verdict due in January

The court trial underway over the "frozen" assets of fugitive former PM Thaksin Shinawatra is expected to deliver a verdict in January.

Thaksin has been accused of concealing his wealth while he was prime minister from 2001 to 2006 and implementing a series of abusive policy measures to boost the value of his family businesses.

The case is being heard by the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office Holders.

Prosecutors have cited information gathered from an investigation by the post-coup Assets Examination Committee (AEC), alleging that Thaksin violated the anti-corruption law by concealing his shareholdings in Shin Corp, which he and his family held a majority stake in.

If found guilty, assets now "frozen" in Thai banks totalling just over Bt76 billion could be seized. Those funds came from the highly controversial sale of his family's shares in Shin Corp to Singapore's state-owned Temasek Holdings in early 2006.

While Thaksin does not face any jail term in this case, he could suffer a significant blow if such a large amount of his assets is seized. His bid to regain political power will suffer a major setback, as his capacity to financially support red-shirt supporters in Thailand would be severely affected. Thus, the assets case is seen as a key court case against the former national leader.

In October last year, the same court sentenced Thaksin to two years in jail for a conflict of interest in connection to his wife's purchase of coveted land plots in central Bangkok that were auctioned by the branch of the central bank.

Thaksin, who fled the country before the court ruling because of fears he would be jailed, later claimed the verdict was politically motivated. He did not bother to appeal.

The assets trial, which has been going on months, started with hearings of defence witnesses but is now hearing evidence from prosecution witnesses.

The last prosecution witnesses will be heard by the court on Dec 22.

The defence had a long list of some 30 witnesses, including Thaksin's ex-wife Pojaman, their son Panthongtae, their daughter Pinthongta, other family members and relatives, plus Pojaman's secretary Kanchanapa Honghern and Surapong Suebwonglee, a former member of Thaksin's Cabinet and the now-defunct Thai Rak Thai Party.

The defence lawyers, led by Pichit Chuenban, had declined to be interviewed for this article.

However, lawyer sources familiar with this case said the defence strategy is to convince the court that Thaksin and his former wife did not hide assets.

If the court believed so, there would be no need to judge whether the ex-premier had abused his powers while in office.

Essentially, defence lawyers also accused the AEC of adopting "double standards" over Thaksin's case when compared to other cases of politicians accused of hiding their assets.

According to Kanchanapa, Pojaman's personal secretary, Thaksin had transferred ownership of shares to his children before he became premier.

Pojaman and their children told the court that Panthongtae and Pinthongta did not hold the shares as their father's nominees and that Thaksin did not secretly hold shares overseas, as had been claimed.

During the trial, the defence said that Thaksin and Pojaman were now divorced and that this had an impact on the division of assets. Pojaman told the court the couple had a divorce agreement specifying that assets held by either of them should be given to those persons after the divorce.

However, if Thaksin loses the case, Pojaman will have to prove ownership of any assets the court may seize.

Her relatives Bannapot and Busaba Damapong also had protested against the "freezing" of assets, which they claim were part of the Shin Corp sale.

Thaksin's sister Yingluck Shinawatra wept while giving testimony in court. She claims her family has been as a victim of political persecution.

The prosecution responded with witnesses who testified against Thaksin. They included Kaewsun Atibodhi, a member of the defunct AEC which investigated numerous graft scandals concerning the Thaksin governments; Sunai Manomai-udom, former head of the Department of Special Investigation, who oversaw an inquiry into the SC Asset Plc's concealment of major shareholders; and Waratchaya Srimachan, assistant secretary-general of the Securities and Exchange Commission, who testified on "paper companies" allegedly set up to act as nominee shareholders for Thaksin.

Viboon Sithaporn, former assistant managing director of the state-owned Export-Import Bank of Thailand, testified that the Thaksin government's policy of lending Bt4 billion to the Burmese government, at low interest rates, resulted in a financial burden for the state. Part of the loan was used to buy equipment from Shin Satellite, an affiliate of Shin Corp, he said.

Executives of mobile-phone operator Total Access Communications Plc also testified that unfair concession terms set by the Thaksin government benefited Advanced Info Service, Shin Corp's mobile-phone operator, which was allowed to pay less fees than its competitors.

-- The Nation 2009-12-21

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

[Donnyboy]

roll on Jan 2010

[ThaksinKharma]

SEC seeks probe against Thaksin, Pojaman

THE NATION

Published on April 29, 2010

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a complaint with the Department of Special Investigation against former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Pojaman na Pombejra for their failure to disclose their holdings in Shin Corp through Win Mark Co.

The couple also violated the securities law by failing to make a tender offer for Shin Corp because their holdings through Ample Rich and Win Mark between 1999 and 2006 exceeded the regulatory limit.

The SEC said both counts are in violation of Article 246 and Article 247 of the Securities and Exchange Commission Act.

The SEC move to file a complaint against Thaksin and Pojaman follows the Supreme Court's landmark ruling in the assets seizure case on February 26 this year. In that case, the Supreme Court ruled that while serving as prime minister, Thaksin and his wife still owned about 49 per cent of the Shin Corp stocks through nominees - Panthongtae Shinawatra, Pinthongta Shinawatra, Yinluck Shinawatra, Bhanapot Damapong and Ample Rich Investment Ltd. This led the Supreme Court to seize about Bt46 billion of the Bt76 billion in proceeds from the sale of Shin Corp to Temasek Holdings of Singapore.

In the Supreme Court's ruling, Win Mark also appeared as a conspirator. The Supreme Court also found that Thaksin and Pojaman also controlled Win Mark, which held shares in both Shin Corp and SC Asset. Win Mark held about 54 million shares in Shin Corp.

Both Ample Rich Investment and Win Mark were set up by Thaksin in the British Virgin Islands.

After the Supreme Court ruling, the SEC has followed up by filing a complaint that Thaksin and Pojaman had failed to notify their holdings in Shin Corp via Ample Rich and Win Mark. The combined holdings of Shin Corp with Ample Rich and Win Mark exceeded 5 per cent periodically between 1999 and 2006.

The securities law requires a person or a company to report to the SEC every time the person's or the company's holding in a listed company exceeds 5 per cent.

This is designed to alert other investors about a significant change in share ownership.

At the same time, the combined holdings of Ample Rich and Win Mark with Thaksin and Pojaman exceeded 50 per cent, requiring the couple to file for a tender offer for all the stocks of Shin Corp.

The SEC said it would pass on this case to the DSI for further probe. Moreover, this case would also go to the National Anti-Corruption Commission, which requires public office holders to come clean with their asset disclosure.

Both Thaksin, who is facing a two-year jail term in a land deal, and Pojaman no longer reside in Thailand. They are believed to be staying in Dubai amid rumours that Thaksin has been hospitalised.

Thaksin's lawyers have already filed an appeal with the Supreme Court over the asset seizure case. The Supreme Court is now determining whether it will take up the case for review. For any appeal to be considered by the Supreme Court's Criminal Division of the Public Office Holders, the defendants must be able to produce new evidence that has not been argued or seen before.

Thaksin and Pojaman have argued that they transferred their shares to their children or relatives legally before Thaksin entered politics in 2001. But the Supreme Court ruled otherwise.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/2010/...n-30128210.html

======================================

Interestingly enough, Pojaman has flown the coop.

Thaksin's Family Fly to Hong Kong

Reports indicate that Thaksin Shinawatra's ex-wife Pojaman Na Pompetch and all three of his children left the country this morning.

They left on a Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong this morning at 10 A.M.

[warfie]

As I am not allowed to start a new thread, I've tried to find a related one... this is the best I could find.

Seized assets of ousted PM increases revenue by 159 billion THB

BANGKOK (NNT) -- The Comptroller General Department (CGD) reported that the recent transferal of assets seized from ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatara has increased the revenue of the Finance Ministry by 159 billion THB.

According to CGD director-general Pongpanu Savetarun usually the April revenue collection does not reach such an amount during a period of tax filing.

Mr Pongpanu said that the additional money gained from Mr Thaksin’s assets has made the department’s revenue collection exceed the initial revenue target of 200 billiion THB. Intially 170 billion THB was expected, due to the positive signals of economic recovery, meaning that the state is able to pay back its debt before the deadline and terminate the 400 billion THB loan bill.

Meanwhile the transfer of funds have been made from six commercial banks, with a total worth of 49 billion THB.

However the capital is short of 163 million THB which is dispersed in three investment units - one belonging to the ex-wife of Mr Thaksin worth 1 billion THB, 218 million from Mr Thaksin’s daughter and 1.2 billion THB from Mr Thaksin's son. On 7 May 2010 the Legal Execution Department and the Office of the National Anti-corruption Commission will meet to discuss ways to sell off part of the assets to repay the Finance Ministry. The process is expected to take up to two months. The total capital repayed to the state is 46.2 billion THB out of the initial 76 billion THB filed with an interest of 2.8 billion THB.

In February 2010, the Supreme Court ruled to seize assets of former ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinwatara on grounds of corruption, and abusing power while in office to benefit his personal business.

-- NNT 2010-05-04

now... is it just me or do the figures above seem off?

[ratcatcher]

As I am not allowed to start a new thread, I've tried to find a related one... this is the best I could find.

Seized assets of ousted PM increases revenue by 159 billion THB

BANGKOK (NNT) -- The Comptroller General Department (CGD) reported that the recent transferal of assets seized from ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatara has increased the revenue of the Finance Ministry by 159 billion THB.

According to CGD director-general Pongpanu Savetarun usually the April revenue collection does not reach such an amount during a period of tax filing.

Mr Pongpanu said that the additional money gained from Mr Thaksin’s assets has made the department’s revenue collection exceed the initial revenue target of 200 billiion THB. Intially 170 billion THB was expected, due to the positive signals of economic recovery, meaning that the state is able to pay back its debt before the deadline and terminate the 400 billion THB loan bill.

Meanwhile the transfer of funds have been made from six commercial banks, with a total worth of 49 billion THB.

However the capital is short of 163 million THB which is dispersed in three investment units - one belonging to the ex-wife of Mr Thaksin worth 1 billion THB, 218 million from Mr Thaksin’s daughter and 1.2 billion THB from Mr Thaksin's son. On 7 May 2010 the Legal Execution Department and the Office of the National Anti-corruption Commission will meet to discuss ways to sell off part of the assets to repay the Finance Ministry. The process is expected to take up to two months. The total capital repayed to the state is 46.2 billion THB out of the initial 76 billion THB filed with an interest of 2.8 billion THB.

In February 2010, the Supreme Court ruled to seize assets of former ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinwatara on grounds of corruption, and abusing power while in office to benefit his personal business.

-- NNT 2010-05-04

now... is it just me or do the figures above seem off?

Could it be that the paper said "by" instead of "to"?

If you substitute "to" then it makes more sense.

IMHO.

[mavup]

Thaksin’s confiscated cash goes to Thai national debt repayments

The Thai government has decided to use 42 billion baht (1.3 billion dollars) confiscated from fugitive politician Thaksin Shinawatra and his family to help repay the country’s public debt, media reports said on Tuesday.

The Comptroller Department decided to use Thaksin’s money for national debt repayments after 46 billion baht were transferred to state coffers from 32 bank accounts in six commercial banks previously holding the frozen cash, the Bangkok Post reported.

On February 26, Thailand’s Supreme Court for Political Office Holders found Thaksin guilty of concealing his wealth from public scrutiny during his two—term premiership from 2001 to 2006 and of abusing his power to benefit his family’s business empire.

The court ruled to confiscate 46.3 billion baht out of 76 billion baht the government had frozen in Thai bank accounts shortly after the September 2006 coup that toppled Thaksin.

Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij demanded the banks speed up the transfer of the funds to the state, although the Shinawatra clan have appealed the court’s ruling.

Thaksin, who has been living in self—exile since August 2008 to avoid a two-year jail sentence in Thailand for corruption, has been linked to the anti-government protests taking place in Bangkok since March.

The former telecommunications tycoon is believed to be one of the main financiers of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), better known as the red shirts, who have occupied Bangkok’s chief commercial district since April 3, calling on Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve parliament and hold new elections.

DPA

May 4, 2010

http://beta.thehindu.com/news/internationa...ticle421270.ece

[mavup]

I think that's great news and think that reducing the national debt is the best use of the money.

[ThaksinKharma]

Court to Decide on Thaksin's Asset Freeze Appeal

The Supreme Court has set August 11 as the date it will decide whether to accept the appeal on the asset freeze case of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin and his family has had 46 billion baht frozen.

TAN - July 21, 2010

http://www.thailandoutlook.tv/tan/ViewData.aspx?DataID=1032503

[ThaksinKharma]

Appeal of Thaksin’s asset seizure trial to be ruled on 11 Aug

BANGKOK, 21 July 2010 (NNT) – The Supreme Court will decide whether to accept the appeal of the asset seizure case of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his family on 11 August 2010.

Five presiding judges selected for deliberating the appeal of the case comprise Vice President of the Supreme Court Peerapol Pitchayawat, President of the Court's Bankruptcy Division Somsak Chandara, President of the Commercial and Economic Division Manat Lueangprasert, President of the Labor Division Direk Inkaninan, and President of the Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions Thanan Wannakowit.

The five judges are entrusted to review the appeal for any additional information contained in the statements of both the defendant and the public prosecutor.

The judges' recommendation on whether to accept the appeal will be presented to the major meeting of the Supreme Court for final decision on 11 August 2010 at 9.30 hrs.

If denied, the case will be immediately terminated.

Earlier, the Supreme Court ordered the confiscation of assets worth 46.3 billion THB of the Shinawatra family and the return of the remaining 30 billion THB.

The verdict indicated that former PM Thaksin and his ex-wife Potjaman na Pombejra had intentionally concealed their assets through nominees.

In addition, the court also ruled that Mr Thaksin, while serving as Prime Minister during 2001-2006, was guilty of being unusually wealthy and abusing his authority by initiating policies and measures to benefit his family’s telecommunications firm, Shin Corp.

http://thainews.prd.go.th/en/news.php?id=255307210043

[ThaksinKharma]

Supreme Court to review seizure of Thaksin assets

The Supreme Court will convene on August 11 to vote on whether it should launch an appellate review into the judicial decision to seize Bt46 billion worth of assets owned by ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra and his family members.

In February, the special graft court ruled in favour of confiscating Thaksin's ill-gotten gains and though the verdict was considered final, based on a one-tier review by the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office Holders, the judicial procedure allows for an appeal in the face of fresh evidence.

The defence submitted appellate arguments in March, meeting the 30-day deadline.

The high court appointed a five-member panel, led by Supreme Court vice president Pirapol Pichayawat, to vet the defence arguments. The vetting process is completed and the report submitted to Supreme Court president Sobchok Sukharom.

It is still unclear if the five panel members have addressed the fresh evidence. The panel has reportedly decided that the defence complied with prescribed steps in petitioning for the review.

In the report, which is considered classified, the panel members have reportedly noted that the defence brought up arguments that were not part of the judicial inquiry leading to the asset seizure.

The high court is expected to debate and vote to determine if the defence arguments will constitute fresh evidence warranting appellate review. Should the appellate review be launched, the Supreme Court's bench of judges would be responsible for reviewing and deciding the outcome.

The Nation - July 22, 2010

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/2010/07/22/politics/Supreme-Court-to-review-seizure-of-Thaksin-assets-30134320.html

[march]

Appeal of Thaksin’s asset seizure trial to be ruled on 11 Aug

BANGKOK, 21 July 2010 (NNT) – The Supreme Court will decide whether to accept the appeal of the asset seizure case of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his family on 11 August 2010.

Tomorrow is the day we will find out if the appeal on the seizure of the 46.3 Billion Baht is approved or not.

If not, the seizure is final.

The judges are scheduled to meet at 9:30 AM and the judges will decide by a majority vote.

[march]

The Supreme Court President Sobchok Sukharomna has said a general assembly of 142 Supreme Court judges will make the decision whether to accept the appeal or not; scheduled for less than 2 and a half hours from now.

[slapout]

Kind of a UN type decision???? Amazing Thailand is a understatement. With the 1000's pf pages of testimony,Lawyer opinions, laws cited, etc, I wonder when all of these legal experts had time to familiarize themselves with the information to make a unbiased decision? Hope things turn out the way the system was intended.

[march]

I wonder when all of these legal experts had time to familiarize themselves with the information to make a unbiased decision?

Considering the OP date:

From and including: Monday, 11 June 2007

To and including: Wednesday, 11 August 2010

It is 1,158 days from the start date to the end date

timeanddate.com:

[Buchholz]

BP has an article this morning that Thaksin's representative, Noppadon, has announced that his boss has now recovered the 30 Billion Baht that was not seized by the courts in their assets seizure case decision.