Courts Of Justice Deny US$150 Million Bribe Offer To Influence Verdict On Thaksin Assets

[webfact]

Courts of Justice deny US$150 million bribe offer to influence verdict on Thaksin assets

BANGKOK: -- (TNA) - The Courts of Justice in Bangkok have denied a report that judges considering the case of Thailand's fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra's assets have been offered five billion baht (US$150 million) in bribes to influence the verdict, saying that the matter has no basis in fact.

Courts of Justice spokesman Sitthisak Wanachakij told reporters that in fact there have been no bribes offered in the cases under the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions.

He believed the report of such bribes were only rumours intended to raise suspicion and to bring into question the fairness of the court ruling when it delivers whatever verdict it issues on Friday, that is whether the Bt76.6 billion in frozen assets belonging to Mr Thaksin and his family should be seized by the state or not. The ex-premier is accused of accumulating the assets by abusing his power while prime minister.

Mr Thaksin was ousted from power in a bloodless coup in September 2006.

Mr Sitthisak said that if any bribe was accepted, the Thai authorities could trace it to its source by checking the money transfer route.

He affirmed that to date no judges have reported attempted bribe offers.

Mr Sitthisak's comments came after a New Politics Party spokesman claimed that there was talk among some judges that five of the nine Supreme Court judges in the Thaksin assets case have been offered bribes of one billion baht (US$30 million) each, or five billion baht ($150 million) overall.

Asked whether the judges would bar people from commenting on the case, the spokesman said the court did not want to create any unnecessary condition.

He said that the comments on the case were speculation, but the expression of such views should be done with discretion as it could be considered contempt of court and lead to prosecution. (TNA)

-- TNA 2010-02-22

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

[Wolfie]

Turning up the heat... is anyone *not* surprised at this?

[moetownblues]

Who is offering the Alleged bribe, Red or yellow?

[daboyz1]

Not surprised. A desperate man.

[hammered]

Pressure, paranoia. Everyone wants a decision they favour. It is hard to see the misinformation from the disinformation from the possible truth from the propaganda.

[Scott]

Why would someone want to bribe them---they can take it all!

[wade72]

If it was my 76.6 billion I would offer more then 6%!!!!!!!

[balou]

Who is offering the Alleged bribe, Red or yellow?

That's the question!

i will be not surprised if it's from the both sides!!!!!

[LuckyLew]

Talk about a low ball bribe

Read on another site bribe was a cool billion

Even a billion seems low when 76 billion is on play

Who has the most to lose?

is he who offered the bribe

[craig123]

Who is offering the Alleged bribe, Red or yellow?

Red

[Jonathanpattaya]

True or not true. Red or yellow, I am not surprised.

Edited February 22, 2010 by Jonathanpattaya

[LivinLOS]

A few billion here.. a few billion there.. Pretty soon your talking about real money !!

[h90]

If it was my 76.6 billion I would offer more then 6%!!!!!!!

yes I would offer half of it.....

[asiawatcher]

Knowing one of the judges - this story is complete media hype and deliberate misinformation to stir trouble! //deleted by Admin// has lost but it not down and out - yet! But he is doing enough damage to his own reputation daily now to be banished to a far off land of hostiles who will milk him and his funds and then toss him aside like the true criminal he really is. Pity they just can't nail the rest! Dubai is officially broke and Cambodia not far behind. "He chose well" (Indianna Jones)

[Murf]

He affirmed that to date no judges have reported attempted bribe offers.

I dont think i would report the bribe either if i was a judge...

[webfact]

if you want avoid deletion of your post please use politicians real names!

[moetownblues]

Who is offering the Alleged bribe, Red or yellow?

Red

I am just a fence sitter and do not really care who is offering the alleged bribe but how do you know it is the Reds please give us all here more information that you have, tell us more.

Edited February 22, 2010 by moetownblues

[bf2002]

Not surprised. A desperate man.

Oh please, the desperate man is Abhisit!

It's easier for those in power and barely holding on to make such false accusations.

Do you seriously think someone with Thaksin's connections would do it with such lack of discretion.

The Democrats attempts to arrest the guy has proven what lame ducks they are....the international community and interpol are just ignoring their "requests"....all foreign investors (not expats living in thailand and playing politics they have no vote in) just want the mess to go away so everyone (thais, foreign investors) can go on with life and have Thailand be the fast grower in SE Asia once again.

The idiots that started the Thaksin coup destroyed that growth and everyone from the average Thai to foreginer corps to foreigners with litigimate (and even illegitimate) investments in Siam have been hurt......the man's politics were populist and maybe it wasn't good for the country in the long long term, but all was going well for everyone until that coup....give it ten years and the moronic leaders of the coup and the yellow shirts will be seen for what they are....the corrupt old guard that tried to hold on to power when the corrupt new guard that wanted to move to free markets threatened them.

Just let it all go away and let the country move on....all these stupid court trials are politicized and will just keep the Thai economy in crap city.

[how241]

As a outsider, it is hard if not impossible to begin to understand the complexities of Thai politics. Even as a citizen of the USA, I would be hard pressed to try and explain the "true" workings of the American political system. There are just too many conflicting interests.

[RKASA]

If you read the papers it seems the rumor was started by members of the PAD. They painted themselves into a corner the other day by declaring that they and everyone should respect the out come, which is fine, but they assume it will be pleasing to them. In the unlikely event it is not, the seeds and an ace card are needed. These rumors will be the source of why it did not go the right way and justify street demonstrations.

Those that blindly follow the PAD will believe every word and most of them already do. The fact they are denied rumors will only prove they must have taken the money already.

It will maybe a long hot summer not matter which way they rule.

[junglist]

If Thaksin was smart he would take (or announce that) all the money in question would be given to the people of Thailand for the construction of new schools and hospitals. He is probably going to lose it all anyways why not let it fall were it is needed not in to the pockets of the corrupt. It is his only chance to regain some Karma from all the wicked deeds he has done. Last chance for redemption.

[steffi]

Taksin's camp is too quiet for my tastes. I think the fix is already in. I would not be at all surprised if they rule similarly to past rulings that they don't have jurisdiction or some such technicality. I seem to recall the last highly anticipated verdict ended up like that.

[geovalin]

"a New Politics Party spokesman claimed that there was talk among some judges"

After such an assertion, it's impossible for the judges to work fairly. If they are kind, just a little bit kind with Thaksin, they'll be accused to have received money. Due to this yellow guy, now the verdict cannot be something else than the strongest severity against Thaksin. It's maybe what he deserves, this is not the question here. The question is that, one more time, the yellows manipulate the country and dictate their law.

[rwhoov]

Not surprised. A desperate man.

Oh please, the desperate man is Abhisit!

It's easier for those in power and barely holding on to make such false accusations.

Do you seriously think someone with Thaksin's connections would do it with such lack of discretion.

The Democrats attempts to arrest the guy has proven what lame ducks they are....the international community and interpol are just ignoring their "requests"....all foreign investors (not expats living in thailand and playing politics they have no vote in) just want the mess to go away so everyone (thais, foreign investors) can go on with life and have Thailand be the fast grower in SE Asia once again.

The idiots that started the Thaksin coup destroyed that growth and everyone from the average Thai to foreginer corps to foreigners with litigimate (and even illegitimate) investments in Siam have been hurt......the man's politics were populist and maybe it wasn't good for the country in the long long term, but all was going well for everyone until that coup....give it ten years and the moronic leaders of the coup and the yellow shirts will be seen for what they are....the corrupt old guard that tried to hold on to power when the corrupt new guard that wanted to move to free markets threatened them.

Just let it all go away and let the country move on....all these stupid court trials are politicized and will just keep the Thai economy in crap city.

Well said! While many of us may have opinions, as guests we should keep them to ourselves. It is a situation only the Thai have the right to deal with.

[cyberskin]

Not surprised. A desperate man.

Oh please, the desperate man is Abhisit!

It's easier for those in power and barely holding on to make such false accusations.

Do you seriously think someone with Thaksin's connections would do it with such lack of discretion.

The Democrats attempts to arrest the guy has proven what lame ducks they are....the international community and interpol are just ignoring their "requests"....all foreign investors (not expats living in thailand and playing politics they have no vote in) just want the mess to go away so everyone (thais, foreign investors) can go on with life and have Thailand be the fast grower in SE Asia once again.

The idiots that started the Thaksin coup destroyed that growth and everyone from the average Thai to foreginer corps to foreigners with litigimate (and even illegitimate) investments in Siam have been hurt......the man's politics were populist and maybe it wasn't good for the country in the long long term, but all was going well for everyone until that coup....give it ten years and the moronic leaders of the coup and the yellow shirts will be seen for what they are....the corrupt old guard that tried to hold on to power when the corrupt new guard that wanted to move to free markets threatened them.

Just let it all go away and let the country move on....all these stupid court trials are politicized and will just keep the Thai economy in crap city.

First bit of common sense I've read on these forums in quite some time.

[steveromagnino]

Oh please, the desperate man is Abhisit!

It's easier for those in power and barely holding on to make such false accusations.

Do you seriously think someone with Thaksin's connections would do it with such lack of discretion.

That's already proven when Thaksin's lawyers were caught offering a bribe for in the cake box; widely documented everywhere.

In addition, there are those who allege bribes were paid for some of the following:

- getting daughters into Kaset and Chula when neither had the grades to make entrance

- getting son to avoid being prosecuted and getting media to keep quiet when son was caught cheating at Ram U

- using financial incentives to influence decisions in the cases of TPI, Phayathai Hospital both of which have subsequently ended up in TRT proxy hands

- using TRT funds to encourage small no name parties to stand in the null 2006 election (proven in court)

The list is endless.

I don't think anyone who knows how he thinks would doubt that he is willing to go to any level to hang onto money he feels is his own. The last time when he was up in court back in 2003/4 when he was facing an electoral ban for 5 years resulting from giving a false asset statement (admitted) he claimed he had made an honest mistake, and using a combination of huge popular pressure and alledged other incentives, he was able to escape being caught by the narrowest of margins.

The economy is doing just fine given that we have not had any real form of government leadership since late 2004. If these two gangs (yellow and red) would kindly just f&*k off and stay in some dump like Cambodia, then we can get on with actually doing something.

Junglist - Thaksin could have easily avoided all of this had he simply paid tax voluntarily back in early 2006 - anyone can see an off market transaction at 1 baht then selling again at 47b or whatever it was the next day is taxable - he also probably should not have been nearly as transparent as changing the law in Jan then selling in Feb. And of course, he probably should not have sold 90%+ shares to investors abroad of a company type that theoretically must be majority owned by Thais; he probably shouldn't have allowed all the petty scams to rip off the taxpayers at the airport/TAT/EXIM Bank/etc etc - its entirely academic, because anyone who knows him is entirely clear why he did all of this and why he continues to do so. His view of reality and ability to take advice is markedly different to how perhaps, a more typical or more successful CEO/leader/Prime Minister might choose to behave.

For what it is worth, I suspect that the only reason to pay a bribe would be if the decision was already known - I think in this case while some gifts and grease might be floating around the place, it probably is not coming from the red shirts and Thaksin in any great amount; he knows that this judging panel are relatively impartial this time.

Looking at it from the letter of the law, it seemed to some familiar with Thai commercial law, that he was already pushing a very risky approach for much of what he did in the asset sale; his attempts to rely on case law via precedents his own administration set is highly risky in a country that does not rely extensively on case law - we aren't in the UK/USA here - ours is a mixture of the French/UK legal system.

Edited February 22, 2010 by steveromagnino

[Skytrain2hell]

If it was my 76.6 billion I would offer more then 6%!!!!!!!

yes I would offer half of it.....

lol...with that mindstate, no wonder you DON'T have that much money!

[cdnvic]

References to The Monarchy have been deleted as it is a violation of Thai law to mention the institution in the context of political speculation.

[jfchandler]

Well, there was the loaded box of doughnuts before.... But that was just a misunderstanding... The money got put into the doughnuts box by mistake before it was delivered to the court...

[WhisperingJack]

How will we ever know the truth in Thailand.

It is a copy Country with copy Politicians and copy Public Servants who are all like pigs and are only interested in getting thier noses in the trough.

The most disheartening thing that I see is that most Thais think it is acceptable for these people to be corrupt and lie. I suppose that this is all they have ever seen.

If anybody knows how to solve the problems in Thailand they should be awarded the Nobel prize