Attorney - General Files New Telecom Case Against Thaksin At Supreme Court

[sriracha john]

OAG files new Thaksin case at Supreme Court

The Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) decided Friday to press charge against ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra for allegedly ordering the issuance of a cabinet resolution in 2003 to convert mobile phone's operators' concession fees into an excise tax that caused about 40 Billion Baht damage to two state enterprises, TOT and CAT Telecom. Thaksin is accused of abusing his power in order to benefit Shin, which was owned by his family. The case was forwarded to the OAG by Assets Scrutiny Committee (ASC). "Attorneys have considered the case and have not found any flaws in it," said attorney Seksarn Bangsomboon. So the OAG decided to forward the case to

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=128818

[soundman]

About time his real crimes are starting to surface and be prosicuted.

Back in 05/06, I asked my wife why Taksin was so belligerently holding on to power.

She replied that if he loses power, he will spend much of the rest of his life behind bars.

The writing is on the wall.

Soundman.

[peterjohn]

he certainly did damage to tot but they dont seem to have tryed to recover

it just amazes me to see what can be got away with in this country

a country that is so butiful but let be raped by crimnals

[sriracha john]

Attorney-General Files Charge against Thaksin's Corruption

The Attorney-General Office filed charges against deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinnawatra regarding the corruption lawsuits against him after the Assets Examination Committee passed its report to the panel.

The Attorney-General's Criminal Division for political post holders has filed charges against deposed Premier Thaksin Shinawatra today after the now-defunct Assets Examination Committee passed its report on the corruption lawsuit to the panel last month.

Special litigation Chief Prosecutor, Seksan Bangsomboon revealed that Deputy Chief Attorney-General Waiyawut Lortrakul reported on the corruption cases against Thaksin after it was forwarded by the Assets Examination Committee earlier. The Deputy Chief Attorney-General chairs the prosecution panel looking into the indictment.

Among the 11 cases forwarded is the tax-evasion charges filed against Thaksin involving the Advance Info Service Company. The case involves breaches of articles 152 and 157, respectively.

The Attorney-General agreed that the evidence is strong enough and has therefore issued an order to file charges against the deposed prime minister for the case.

The OAG revealed that five other cases that were incomplete were returned to the Assets Examination Committee, who is in charge of collecting for more evidence on the cases.

- Thailand Outlook

[sriracha john]

New charges filed against ousted Thai PM

BANGKOK, Thailand — Thai prosecutors filed new corruption charges against ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Friday for alleged abuse of authority to benefit his family business.

The Attorney General's Office filed the charges in the Supreme Court over changes made in 2003 to a payments system for state-owned enterprises that benefited Thaksin's family-owned mobile phone company, Deputy Attorney General Waiyawut Toetrakun said.

The filing came as a series of legal cases against the former prime minister appeared to be gaining momentum, with a ruling on one expected at the end of the month.

- Associated Press / 11-07-08

[bangkokrick]

Do you know of anyone that would like to buy a Premier league football club yer honor?

Cheers, Rick

[Plus]

Is this the case where they have to prove he maintained control of Shin Corp while being the PM?

If he can't be legally linked to AIS, there's no the case, really.

If they can prove he was still in charge it opens a whole new can of worms.

[ratcatcher]

Do you know of anyone that would like to buy a Premier league football club yer honor?

Cheers, Rick

I seem to remember reading a short while back that Thaksin & one of his cronies (possibly R.E.Frigerator) went to a Wat or some such place & had their fortunes told. Apparently he was told "In July things will get better" or words to that effect.

Maybe others remember more clearly the article.

Anyway it does look like things are getting better--------justice is being served.

[h90]

Do you know of anyone that would like to buy a Premier league football club yer honor?

Cheers, Rick

I seem to remember reading a short while back that Thaksin & one of his cronies (possibly R.E.Frigerator) went to a Wat or some such place & had their fortunes told. Apparently he was told "In July things will get better" or words to that effect.

Maybe others remember more clearly the article.

Anyway it does look like things are getting better--------justice is being served.

Wasn't the 2nd July the turning point after which everything gets better for Thaksin?

A fortune teller told that.

[bangkokrick]

Do you know of anyone that would like to buy a Premier league football club yer honor?

Cheers, Rick

I seem to remember reading a short while back that Thaksin & one of his cronies (possibly R.E.Frigerator) went to a Wat or some such place & had their fortunes told. Apparently he was told "In July things will get better" or words to that effect.

Maybe others remember more clearly the article.

Anyway it does look like things are getting better--------justice is being served.

Wasn't the 2nd July the turning point after which everything gets better for Thaksin?

A fortune teller told that.

Did they put a year on that? I don't think that it will be in 2008.

Cheers, Rick

[frodo]

Sorry for stealing your picture sriracha john, but I just couldn't resist.

Damned fortune teller told me everything would be better this July

[nomoretalksin]

he he another nice one by frodo.

thanks for that! Sanuk maag!

[sriracha john]

OAG presses new charge against Thaksin

BANGKOK, July 11 (TNA) - Thailand's Office of the Attorney General (OAG) pressed yet another charge against former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, alleging that he amended the law to benefit his former telecom business, Shin Corp, causing damages of Bt6.6 billion to the state.

Special Litigation Department director Seksan Bangsomboon said the Assets Examination Committee (AEC) filed a new corruption case against Thaksin who owned the company which was granted a telecom concession from the government.

Thaksin, prime minister at that time, allegedly ordered a conversion of the mobile phone service provider's concession fees into an excise tax. The action caused TOT and CAT Telecom to shoulder a tremendous burden of Bt6.6 billion in 2003.

The Supreme Court Criminal Division will decide on September 3 whether the case would be prosecuted.

Thaksin's wife Pojaman is facing graft charges regarding the Ratchadapisek Land deal made in 2004, which changed hands from the Financial Institutions Development Fund (FIDF) to Thaksin's wife at only one-third of the current market value when the purchase was made.

The court began hearing the case in July and prohibited Thaksin from leaving the country.

[sriracha john]

another international media source spreading the news far and wide....

Ousted Thai PM Thaksin facing new charges

BANGKOK - Thai prosecutors filed new charges against former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Friday, accusing him of amending laws to benefit his telecoms empire in the years before he was ousted in a 2006 coup.

The Supreme Court will decide in September whether the billionaire tycoon should stand trial on the charges, which allege the legislative changes cost the Thai state 66 billion baht ($1.96 billion) in lost telecom concession revenues. *I think TNA got their decimal point wrong above*

At the heart of the case are changes the Thaksin government made between 2001 and 2006 in the way private telecoms companies paid concession fees so they could operate on state-owned communication networks.

The charge sheet, prepared by investigators also accused Thaksin of using his son, daughter, brother-in-law, and sister as nominee shareholders in offshore companies to conceal his assets.

If the case goes to trial and Thaksin is convicted, he could face up to 10 years in jail, prosecutors said. The court will decide whether to hear the case on Sept. 3.

Thaksin, who was accused of "rampant corruption" and abuse of power during his more than 5 years in office, is already on trial on other graft charges. Thaksin has denied any wrongdoing.

The $1.9 billion, tax-free sale of Shin Corp to Singapore state investment firm Temasek in early 2006 intensified a street campaign against Thaksin that led to his ouster. Thailand's five-month-old coalition government, elected in December on a promise to revive Thaksin's populist policies, is reeling from a series of damaging court rulings this week.

Two ministers and a top politician from the People Power Party (PPP), which leads the six-party coalition, quit or were banned from politics after verdicts by top judges.

Other legal cases against Thaksin and the coalition government are expected to come to a head in the coming weeks The Election Commission will decide on Wednesday whether Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, a popular TV chef before he became premier, has violated the constitution by working for a private company that broadcasts his cooking shows.

If the Constitutional Court agrees with the EC, a decision that could take months, Samak would be forced to quit, analysts said.

In another case, the EC and public prosecutors agreed on Friday to ask the Constitutional Court to rule on whether two small coalition partners were guilty of vote-buying in the 2007 election.

A similar investigation of the PPP is due to begin next week, EC officials said. If found guilty, the parties would be disbanded and their executives barred from politics for five years.

- Reuters / July 11, 2008

[sriracha john]

Sorry for stealing your picture sriracha john, but I just couldn't resist.

please feel completely free to do so...

"Damned fortune teller told me everything would be better this July"

[johnnyk]

Sorry for stealing your picture sriracha john, but I just couldn't resist.

please feel completely free to do so...

"Damned fortune teller told me everything would be better this July"

Let's not get too excited, July's not over yet. He still has wriggle room.

[sriracha john]

Sorry for stealing your picture sriracha john, but I just couldn't resist.

please feel completely free to do so...

"Damned fortune teller told me everything would be better this July"

Let's not get too excited, July's not over yet. He still has wriggle room.

^ July 2nd was the date used by Thaksin... and it was repudiated by the famous fortune-teller Luck Rekhanitade, who predicted the exact opposite with rough times for Thaksin on that date and shortly thereafter...

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Fortune-tell...32.html&hl=

Fortune-teller Counters Thaksin Prediction

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

meanwhile, back at the ranch... this will answer Plus's query in Post #7 above...

Thaksin on graft charges

66 Billion Baht damage to state alleged

The Attorney-General has filed a criminal lawsuit against Thaksin Shinawatra, accusing him of abusing power while serving as prime minister by converting telecom concessions to benefit Shin Corp and causing damage to the state worth 66 Billion Baht.

After an initial delay, the Attorney-General yesterday took up the policy corruption case involving Shin Corp, which was investigated by the Assets Examination Committee (AEC). Seksarn Bangsomboon, Director of Special Criminal Cases, lodged the lawsuit - contained in three large cases, 20 files and almost 20,000 pages of documents - at the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office Holders.

The lawsuit, signed by Attorney-General Chaikasem Nitisiri and including his written opinion, alleges that Thaksin violated the law by holding state concessions through his stock-ownership concealment in Shin Corp while he was prime minister.

Thaksin gained unusual wealth in Shin Corp, it said, by having state agencies convert the telecom concessions to excise tax to benefit Shin Corp. TOT and CAT Telecom, who awarded the concessions to the subsidiaries of Shin, stood to lose 41.95 Billion Baht and 25.99 Billion Baht respectively from the conversion of the concessions.

Thaksin and his wife Pojaman are already on trial at the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office Holders in a separate case involving Pojaman's purchase of a prime plot in the Rachadaphisek area from the Financial Institutions Development Fund. In this case, Thaksin is charged with violating the law by using his high office to endorse the deal with the FIDF, a state institution.

The Shin Corp case is, however, more damaging to Thaksin than the Rachadaphisek land deal because it involves alleged stock concealment, tax evasion, and policy corruption to increase the value of Shin stocks.

The AEC has found that Thaksin and Pojaman still owned Shin Corp throughout the time Thaksin was serving as prime minister between February 2001 up to the sale of the company in January 2006.

The couple allegedly used their children Panthongtae and Pinthongta, Pojaman's brother Banaphot Damapong, and Thaksin's sister Yingluck, as well as Ample Rich Investment Ltd and Win Mark Ltd as nominees to conceal their real ownership of 1,419 million shares, or about 49 per cent, in Shin Corp.

Banaphot's promissory notes, issued to purchase the Shin Corp stocks from Pojaman in March 1999, named "Khunying Pojaman" as the beneficiary, but at that time, Pojaman had not received the Khunying title, implying that the promissory notes were issued retroactively as a cover-up. *Lordy, these criminals are stupidly sloppy*

The attorney-general has already reserved Sunai Manomai-udom, the former head of the Department of Special Investigation, Sanya Waranyu and Thirachai Phuvanat-naranubala, the secretary-general of the Securities and Exchange Commission, as state witnesses in the alleged stock-ownership cover-up.

It has also reserved Areepong Phuchaum, Sathit Limphongphun, and Sommai Phasi as state witnesses on the conversion of the concessions.

The Supreme Court will form a panel to consider the Shin deal before ruling on whether to accept the suit.

- The Nation / 12-07-08

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

*Mods:

Given the specificity of the recent news articles, please amend thread title's baht values to read:

Attorney - General Files New Telecom Case Against Thaksin At Supreme Court, alleges 66 Billion Baht in damages

Thank you.

[sriracha john]

Thaksin's troubles worsening

Former prime minister in abuse of power case

The Attorney-General yesterday indicted former PM Thaksin for abusing his authority in favour of his telecom business, causing damage to the state worth 68 Billion Baht. In the document, Thaksin is accused of violating articles 91, 152, and 157 of the Criminal Code and articles 4, 100, and 122 of the counter corruption law. Thaksin, who was PM between Feb 2001 and Sept 2006, abused his authority in a way that benefited his own business, but damaged the state, it said. Thaksin managed to have the Finance Ministry impose an excise tax on telecom businesses and deduct the tax from previous royalties paid by telecom concessionaires. The concessionaires included Advanced Info Service Plc (AIS), in which his Shin Corp was the major shareholder. The tax, which was as high as 49.5%, was criticised for barring new players from entering the telecom business. The Attorney-General agrees with the investigation by the AEC, which found Thaksin still held more than 1.41 Billion shares in Shin Corp when he was PM. He secretly held the shares through

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.net/120708_News/12Jul2008_news12.php

[goonerthegooner]

What goes round,comes round.

Som-Num-Nah,

[sriracha john]

What goes round,comes round.

Som-Num-Nah,

Hopefully... it's still a long road to hold him accountable, but that road is certainly heading in the right direction thus far.

[h90]

What goes round,comes round.

Som-Num-Nah,

Hopefully... it's still a long road to hold him accountable, but that road is certainly heading in the right direction thus far.

I still can't believe that a court tells: thaksin go in jail. So real jail, not on bail, later (in the next life).

So really his body stays in jail....can't believe it.

[sriracha john]

Nice to see a write-up in his hometown newspaper...

New charges for Thaksin

MANCHESTER City owner Thaksin Shinawatra has been charged with new allegations of corruption in Thailand - as the case against him appeared to be gaining momentum.

Thai prosecutors filed new corruption charges against the ousted prime minister for alleged abuse of authority to benefit his family business.

The Attorney General's Office filed the charges in the Supreme Court over changes made in 2003 to a payments system for state-owned enterprises that benefited Thaksin's family-owned mobile phone company, Deputy Attorney General ecommunications enterprises.

The fees were converted into a simple tax which was less.

Advanced Info Service, a subsidiary of Shin Corp., a telecom conglomerate owned by Thaksin's family until early 2006, benefited the most because as the biggest mobile operator it had been paying the largest fees.

"The result of the investigation found that the suspect has abused (his) authority" to benefit his family's company, the charges said. The changes caused financial losses to two state-owned telecommunications enterprises, they said.

The case is the eighth against Thaksin and members of his family that has gone to court out of a total of 24. The others are still with police or the attorney general's office.

Several high-profile court rulings this week have targeted top officials in the five-month-old government of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, which is filled with allies of Thaksin whose business interests include Premier League side Manchester City.

- Manchester Evening News 12/ 7/2008

[Seneque]

To charge is one thing ...

To convict Mr. T. will be another ! Don't you wonder why he is so 'untouchable' ....? , I do.

[Tony Clifton]

To charge is one thing ...

To convict Mr. T. will be another ! Don't you wonder why he is so 'untouchable' ....? , I do.

You can't be that untouchable for so long.

The simple fact that foreign media is mentioning these corruption cases his hurting him where it counts, face face face face face!

It'll be interesting to see him sink in deeperinto ridicule when he tries to lie even more in future interviews, if he gives any at all.

[sriracha john]

The "I am a martyr" international media interviews do seem to have dropped off as of late.

[sriracha john]

Judges in place for Thaksin

Nine judges were selected yesterday to decide whether an abuse-of-power case against former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra should go to trial.

The case concerns charges that he abused his power in replacing concession payments with an excise tax on telecom operators.

The Supreme Court's full bench elected Pairoj Wayupap, Pornphet Wichitchonchai, Boonrawd Tanprasert, Kasem Weerawong, Chalee Tapwimol, Ratana Kongkaew, Prateep Chalermphatarakul, Direk Ungkinan and Sumit Supadul to fill the panel.

The first seven are chief justices of the Supreme Court and the last two are senior judges.

Pornphet, Boonrawd, Kasem, Chalee and Ratana are also sitting on another tribunal hearing a graft case implicating Thaksin over rubber saplings.

The nine will meet to assign three among them to preside over the case.

The panel is expected to hold its first session on September 3 to rule whether the case merits judicial review. If it decides that it does, the same judges will try the case.

The defence has a month to file an objection to any of the panel judges on grounds of conflict of interest.

The prosecution contends that Thaksin caused Bt66 billion in damages to the state by allowing Shin Corp to pay excise taxes rather than the higher fees stipulated under the concession.

- The Nation

[sriracha john]

Thaksin to be indicted over Shin wealth

The Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) is set to indict Thaksin Shinawatra on a charge of being unusually rich as a result of the sale of his shares in Shin Corp. Klanarong Chanthik, a member of the National Counter Corruption Commission, said a joint panel of officials from the OAG and the NCCC yesterday met to see if there were any holes in the investigation previously handled by the now-defunct Assets Scrutiny Committee. The case is now with the NCCC.

Mr Klanarong said the joint panel had agreed that the prosecution would act on behalf of the NCCC to file the indictment. Regarding the SC Asset shares concealment case, OAG spokesman Thanapit Mulpruek said the prosecution is waiting for some documents which are crucial to the investigation. The OAG had asked the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) to obtain and produce documents involving the share transfers from Singapore and Malaysia, Mr

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/250708_News/25Jul2008_news13.php

[sriracha john]

* post deleted. wrong thread.

Re-posted here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?s=...t&p=2275244