Sondhi freed on bail, posts Bt12-million assets as guarantee

[webfact]

Sondhi freed on bail, posts Bt12-million assets as guarantee

BANGKOK: -- The Supreme Court Monday allowed media tycoon and former yellow-shirt leader Sondhi Limthongkul to be released on bail after he posted Bt12 million worth of assets as a guarantee.

He was temporarily released to appeal against the ruling by the Appeals Court. The Appeals Court has upheld the primary court’s jail verdict against media tycoon and former yellow-shirt leader Sondhi Limthongkul, sentencing him to 20 years in jail for violating the Securities and Exchange Act.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Sondhi-freed-on-bail-posts-Bt12-million-assets-as--30241737.html


-- The Nation 2014-08-25

[Cuchulainn]

3................2...............1............................ enter the red bleatings and brayings!!

However, he should NEVER have been granted bail. 12 mill is noting to a scumbag like him. He'll never do 20 days never mind 20 years.

Edited August 25, 2014 by Cuchulainn

[EricBerg]

Here we go. For 12 million he can buy freedom. That's peanuts for him. Now run and find some obscure place for asylum. Monte Negro or the likes. Same as always with the big shots gone bad: no prison. Poor poor Thailand.

[JAG]

Golly, what a surprise!

Once more my flabber is well and truly gasted!

[tomross46]

What about police officers convicted of murder. These are the only police convicted in the murder of over 2500 innocent people during the War on Drugs. They were released on bail after conviction.

[worgeordie]

Well if Bernie Ecclestone,(F1),can buy his way out of jail time ,why not this guy,

just enforces the Word wide premise that if you are very rich,you can wiggle out

of anything,sometimes even murder.so there is defiantly 2 laws in the world,and

the common man will always get the shit end of the stick.

regards worgeordie

[uty6543]

3................2...............1............................ enter the red bleatings and brayings!!

However, he should NEVER have been granted bail. 12 mill is noting to a scumbag like him. He'll never do 20 days never mind 20 years.

Well I'm yellow and I don't think he should be granted bail. He's been convicted by one court. The conviction was upheld by an appeals court. How many courts should it take to send a guilty rich man to jail?

[MobileContent]

Of course he goes out. Anyone thinking he will be gone for 20 years in jail is naive.

As they say in Thailand Money talks Bullshits walks.

BTW: What happened to the Ferrari guy that killed a cop? Still in Singapore or why is Thaksin passport not cancelled? People that have money in Thailand will always go free.

[slovitz]

It's no different than so many other well to do that are routinely granted bail and remain free on bail for literally years while they appeal.

No reason to treat this case any different.

[jacky54]

Utterly disgraceful, this sort of injustice continues to make Thailand an international joke as far as equality before the law is concerned. If it were a poor person convicted dubiously of LM they would not be out on bail and would do the 20 years.

[Local Drunk]

Well if Bernie Ecclestone,(F1),can buy his way out of jail time ,why not this guy,

just enforces the Word wide premise that if you are very rich,you can wiggle out

of anything,sometimes even murder.so there is defiantly 2 laws in the world,and

the common man will always get the shit end of the stick.

regards worgeordie

Bernie's and Sondhi's offenses are not comparable and neither are the amounts they paid out.

Edited August 25, 2014 by Local Drunk

[JoeThePoster]

So, he's appealing against the appeals court verdict to which he'd earlier appealed?

[h90]

Here we go. For 12 million he can buy freedom. That's peanuts for him. Now run and find some obscure place for asylum. Monte Negro or the likes. Same as always with the big shots gone bad: no prison. Poor poor Thailand.

12 Mill is a lot for him as his business is complete broken.......yes Monte Negro and Dubai are popular.

[IamNoone88]

Much like the taxi drivers are back in force in the same old places in Phuket, minus their shacks, this conviction will likely amount to nothing in the long run. Nice start.....no follow through. End result ..... no change.

[englishoak]

Here we go. For 12 million he can buy freedom. That's peanuts for him. Now run and find some obscure place for asylum. Monte Negro or the likes. Same as always with the big shots gone bad: no prison. Poor poor Thailand.

12 Mill is a lot for him as his business is complete broken.......yes Monte Negro and Dubai are popular.

12m is nothing and its assets and cost him not one baht,probably just a holiday home for him, or a car.

Scumbag wont do a day inside, be certain of that.

[redsox44]

Happy Happy Happy.....

[chotthee]

Here we go. For 12 million he can buy freedom. That's peanuts for him. Now run and find some obscure place for asylum. Monte Negro or the likes. Same as always with the big shots gone bad: no prison. Poor poor Thailand.

What if he has no 12 million?

Remain in jail forever?

[Pib]

Here we go. For 12 million he can buy freedom. That's peanuts for him. Now run and find some obscure place for asylum. Monte Negro or the likes. Same as always with the big shots gone bad: no prison. Poor poor Thailand.

12 Mill is a lot for him as his business is complete broken.......yes Monte Negro and Dubai are popular.

12m is nothing and its assets and cost him not one baht,probably just a holiday home for him, or a car.

Scumbag wont do a day inside, be certain of that.

I expect it is just his home (or one of his homes), maybe some land, etc. The courts do accept land title deeds as bail. Plus, I'm sure he has friends who can loan him the money.

[behonset]

This is how the filthy rich Chinese-Thai get away from swindling billions. They end up giving back only a tiny fraction.

[Lite Beer]

Sondhi Limthongkul and two associates freed on bail by the Supreme Court

Manager Group founder Sondhi Limthongkul and two former executives of the group were released on bail by the Supreme Court today after they spent 18 days in prison following their conviction on fraud charges and violations of the securities law.

The court imposed a 12 million baht bail for each of the three convicts who, besides Sondhi, include Ms Saowalak Thiranujanya and Ms Yupin chanthana.

The trio were sentenced to 20 years imprisonment each after they were found guilty of 17 counts of charges. The sentence was upheld by the Appeals Court.

However, the trio have appealed the verdict to the Supreme Court.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/sondhi-limthongkul-two-associates-freed-bail-supreme-court/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sondhi-limthongkul-two-associates-freed-bail-supreme-court

-- Thai PBS 2014-08-25

[icare999]

This is how the filthy rich Chinese-Thai get away from swindling billions. They end up giving back only a tiny fraction.

of course its wrong but how about bankers in west caught to all sort of tricks hurting millions of people and a slap on wrist and a for them small fine

im not saying its ok but just way of world I'm afraid

and all bleating wringing of hands wont stop it since masses dont give a shit

[ratcatcher]

Well if Bernie Ecclestone,(F1),can buy his way out of jail time ,why not this guy,

just enforces the Word wide premise that if you are very rich,you can wiggle out

of anything,sometimes even murder.so there is defiantly 2 laws in the world,and

the common man will always get the shit end of the stick.

regards worgeordie

Bernie's and Sondhi's offenses are not comparable and neither are the amounts they paid out.

Bernie Ecclestone a sterling billionaire worth 3 to 4 billion pounds, paid around 60 million pounds ($100,000,000) to end his bribery trial. PAID OUT. End of story.

Sondhi has posted B12 million as a guarantee. Not PAID out, he has not paid for the cases against him to be dropped. He still has to behave himself. It is a bail payment. Big difference.

[h90]

Here we go. For 12 million he can buy freedom. That's peanuts for him. Now run and find some obscure place for asylum. Monte Negro or the likes. Same as always with the big shots gone bad: no prison. Poor poor Thailand.

12 Mill is a lot for him as his business is complete broken.......yes Monte Negro and Dubai are popular.

12m is nothing and its assets and cost him not one baht,probably just a holiday home for him, or a car.

Scumbag wont do a day inside, be certain of that.

he had to shut down 90 % of this channels because he could not pay the satellite fee (which is extreme cheap) and often enough his staff complains that he can't pay the salaries.

Financially this guy is more dead than alive.

While he had many dark sides and made uncountable amount of stupid things, he also was one of the few who did investigate things and one of the last independent news.

It is not black and white......he is one of the best in Thailand in some cases but also some for the darker figures in other cases.

[bangrak]

I sincerely hate PT/UDD, the reds, and their tricks and bought off criminal and appeal judges, but this man Sondhi should not have got bail, even for 1Billion Baht (which amount would still be a lot less than the damage he is responsible for in all his scams)! The stables are still stinking, so they're not yet clean, back to businees NCPO!

[slovitz]

Sondhi Limthongkul and two former executives of the group were released on bail by the Supreme Court today after they spent 18 days in prison

That's 18 more days than many other convicted have ever spent.

[Prbkk]

Well if Bernie Ecclestone,(F1),can buy his way out of jail time ,why not this guy,

just enforces the Word wide premise that if you are very rich,you can wiggle out

of anything,sometimes even murder.so there is defiantly 2 laws in the world,and

the common man will always get the shit end of the stick.

regards worgeordie

Bernie's and Sondhi's offenses are not comparable and neither are the amounts they paid out.

Bernie Ecclestone a sterling billionaire worth 3 to 4 billion pounds, paid around 60 million pounds ($100,000,000) to end his bribery trial. PAID OUT. End of story.

Sondhi has posted B12 million as a guarantee. Not PAID out, he has not paid for the cases against him to be dropped. He still has to behave himself. It is a bail payment. Big difference.

Yes, the only common ground between them is that they are two of the most unpleasant people on the planet. It would be nice to have seen a sentence similar to Bernie Madov for both.

[webfact]

Yellowshirt Leader Released On Bail After Two Weeks In Jail
By Khaosod English


Sondhi Limthongkul was found guilty of fraud and falsifying loan documents by Thailand’s Court of Appeals on 7 August 2014 and taken to prison on the same day to await a Supreme Court deliberation on his bail release.

BANGKOK — The Supreme Court has agreed to release the founder of the "Yellowshirt" political movement from prison on bail today, two weeks after he was convicted of fraud.

Sondhi Limthongkul was found guilty of fraud and falsifying loan documents by Thailand’s Court of Appeals on 7 August and sentenced to 42 years behind bars. He was taken to prison on the same day to await a Supreme Court deliberation on his bail release.

Today, the Supreme Court agreed to release Mr. Sondhi on a bail of 12 million baht in assets, his lawyer said.

He is expected to leave Klong Prem Central Prison at 8pm tonight.

In 2006, Mr. Sondhi founded a protest group known as the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which later became known as the Yellowshirts for adopting yellow – the King of Thailand’s personal colour – as their symbol. The PAD accused then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of corruption, abuse of power, and plotting to overthrow the monarchy.

The ensuing power struggle between the Yellowshirts and a rival, pro-Thaksin political faction known as the “Redshirts” has sharply polarised Thailand's politics for almost a decade.

Prison officials previously said that they were monitoring Mr. Sondhi during his stay in prison to avoid any incidents between him and other Redshirt prisoners.

Meanwhile, a number of activists affiliated with the Redshirt movement continue to see their bail releases denied, including former magazine editor Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, who is currently imprisoned at Bangkok Remand Prison for allegedly insulting the monarchy, and Redshirt demonstrators who are facing charges related to their alleged roles in the 2010 political unrest.

Source: http://en.khaosod.co.th/detail.php?newsid=1408972157&section=11&typecate=06


-- Khaosod English 2014-08-26

[chooka]

You can't give yellow shirts special treatment and ignore the reds. This is not going to reunite the country but just tear it apart again. Showing blatant bias for your friends is going to upset a lot of people and the Junta is stepping on very thin ice acting foolishly.

[Suriya4]

Sorry, many red shirts still in jail since 2010 because no 12 million to pay bail.

[kurnell]

Don't know why any of you care.