Juthamas to be indicted over bribes from Hollywood executives

[webfact]

Juthamas to be indicted over bribes from Hollywood executives
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Former Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Juthamas Siriwan will be indicted for allegedly accepting Bt60 million in bribes in 2010 in exchange for giving two US film executives movie festival contracts, a graft official said Thursday.

The joint panel of the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Office of the Auditor-General resolved on July 27 to indict Juthamas for graft, NACC secretary-general Sansern Polajiak said yesterday.

Juthamas will be given 15 days to report herself to the Attorney General or she an arrest warrant, he said.

Sansern said prosecutors would file the indictment at the Criminal Court. She had the right to seek court approval for a temporarily release on bail, he said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Juthamas-to-be-indicted-over-bribes-from-Hollywood-30266083.html


-- The Nation 2015-08-06

[worgeordie]

Well about time, I thought it had been forgotten about,

it was so long ago, and the daughter?

regards Worgeordie

[zaphod reborn]

The Greens were convicted and Juthamas was indicted in the US back in 2009. Six years later, the NACC and OAG are just getting around to indicting her? Probably another one that will flee to Cambodia.

[arthurboy]

Given the usual idiotic public announcement, she'll be long gone already.

Why not keep quiet and just arrest her?

I wonder if she's wealthy, has connections blah blah blah..?

[Artisi]

Given the usual idiotic public announcement, she'll be long gone already.

Why not keep quiet and just arrest her?

I wonder if she's wealthy, has connections blah blah blah..?

Reasonably wealthy, she did collect Bht60M which is probably still in her bank.

[seajae]

lets hope they seize all, her assets and recoup all the money to go into the thai coffers, 60,000000 plus interest

[Artisi]

lets hope they seize all, her assets and recoup all the money to go into the thai coffers, 60,000000 plus interest

That sounds far too complicated and worth require some critical thinking - so very unlikely.

[Artisi]

lets hope they seize all, her assets and recoup all the money to go into the thai coffers, 60,000000 plus interest

That sounds far too complicated and would require some critical thinking - so very unlikely.

[bamnutsak]

Wonder if they'll go after Pornpimol (Pauline) Kanchanalak?

My guess would be, "No".

[magnacarta]

The Greens were convicted and Juthamas was indicted in the US back in 2009. Six years later, the NACC and OAG are just getting around to indicting her? Probably another one that will flee to Cambodia.

Thai time,different ,parallel universe.

[tubby johnson]

Like previous high-profile and well-connected culprits, she won't have to worry about a thing. She'll never spend a minute in jail.

This is yet another charade for the gullible public meant to save the justice system's face.

[clockman]

Same words, same result. No change.

[candide]

Wonder if they'll go after Pornpimol (Pauline) Kanchanalak?

My guess would be, "No".

Too bad

[ComicusCivicus]

"Naive" is the word for anyone who really think that this has anything to do with "JUSTICE".

It is as simple as power-that-be wants money, a lot of money from her and she has not much money left due to the fact that she already paid off the power-that-be so many times.

Justice in LOS (S=SCUM)!!!

A joke of the day, really!!!

[bangkokfrog]

Given the usual idiotic public announcement, she'll be long gone already.

Why not keep quiet and just arrest her?

I wonder if she's wealthy, has connections blah blah blah..?

Reasonably wealthy, she did collect Bht60M which is probably still in her bank.

I think you will find that a big chunk of the money would have had to be paid to people associated with the government of the day, and the rest is safely overseas... where she may well be before the case gets to trial.

[daiwill60]

Beggars belief doesn't it?

Wonder if they have taken her passport off her yet, will they never learn??

Do they want to learn ??? or is it more lucrative to pretend not to learn ???

[pedro01]

About time too!

[HoHoHoHoHoHoHo]

"Naive" is the word for anyone who really think that this has anything to do with "JUSTICE".

It is as simple as power-that-be wants money, a lot of money from her and she has not much money left due to the fact that she already paid off the power-that-be so many times.

Justice in LOS (S=SCUM)!!!

A joke of the day, really!!!

Nothin to do with justice. She is just another Taksin crony getting cleaned out. Zero sum game now going on. Lots of roadkill in town.

[noitom]

This comes as a shocker that any Thai could be involved in bribery.

[webfact]

TOURISM AUTHORITY OF THAILAND
Ex-TAT chief to be indicted over bribes from Hollywood execs
THE NATION


Juthamas

BANGKOK: -- FORMER TOURISM Authority of Thailand governor Juthamas Siriwan will be indicted for allegedly accepting Bt60 million in bribes in 2010 in exchange for giving two US film executives movie festival contracts, an anti-graft official said yesterday.

The joint panel of the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Office of the Auditor-General resolved on July 27 to indict Juthamas for graft, NACC secretary-general Sansern Polajiak said yesterday.

Juthamas will be given 15 days to report herself to the Attorney-General or she an arrest warrant, he said.

Sansern said prosecutors would file the indictment at the Criminal Court. She had the right to seek court approval for a temporarily release on bail, he said.

A source said Juthamas was still in the country.

US prosecutors charged Juthamas in 2009 with violations of the Money Laundering Control Act, alleging that she used the US financial system to promote or conceal violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and Thai law.

A jury convicted Hollywood film executives Gerald and Patricia Green of FCPA violations in 2010 for paying Juthamas US$1.8 million in bribes.

The US court case against Juthamas has been pending nearly six years due to extradition issues.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Ex-TAT-chief-to-be-indicted-over-bribes-from-Holly-30266119.html


-- The Nation 2015-08-07

[KarenBravo]

They just can't help themselves, eh?

She obviously agrees with the sentiment "the only way to get rid of temptation, is to give in to it".

[magnacarta]

They just can't help themselves, eh?

She obviously agrees with the sentiment "the only way to get rid of temptation, is to give in to it".

The problem is that they do help themselves.

[dotpoom]

Given the usual idiotic public announcement, she'll be long gone already.

Why not keep quiet and just arrest her?

I wonder if she's wealthy, has connections blah blah blah..?

I'd say 60 Million Baht....is a good kick start on the road to wealth!

[easybullet3]

60 million bah in exchange for some Film Festivals ?????

seems a bit HIGH for a film festival !!!

i cant imagine a Film Festival in Thaialnd would be worth anywhere near that much (in ticket sales).

[easybullet3]

60 Million baht in Exchange for some Film Festivals ????

seems a bit HIGH !!!

I cant imagine that film festivals IN THAILAND get anywhere near that amount of money in Ticket sales !

[zaphod reborn]

FORMER TOURISM Authority of Thailand governor Juthamas Siriwan will be indicted for allegedly accepting Bt60 million in bribes in 2010 in exchange for giving two US film executives movie festival contracts, an anti-graft official said yesterday.

The bribes weren't taken in 2010. Juthamas had already been indicted, and the Greens convicted, in the US in 2009. The Greens paid the bribes to Juthamas from 2002-2007. A prime example of misinformation so that it doesn't appear the NACC has been asleep at the switch.

[SOTIRIOS]

...and the ill-gotten gains.....????

[Dogmatix]

Why do the Thai press articles say the alleged offences took place in 2010? They took place between 2002 and 2007 and Juthamas and her daughter were indicted in a US federal court in 2009. Despite the reams of evidence provided by the US Justice Department, and the US convictions of the bribe payers, the Thai attorney-general claimed the evidence was incomplete and delayed the process for years. See account on World Bank website: http://star.worldbank.org/corruption-cases/node/18645

The same thing happened when the US Justice Dept sent crate loads of evidence relating to the bribes, involving a Thaksinite minister, paid for the CTX scanners at Suvarnarnbhumi that failed to detect Kamronwit's Saturday night special. The attorney-general claimed the translation was incomprehensible and the case has never been pursued.

Justice delayed is justice denied.

[dageurreotype]

Given the usual idiotic public announcement, she'll be long gone already.

Why not keep quiet and just arrest her?

I wonder if she's wealthy, has connections blah blah blah..?

You do not need to be particularly wealthy to bribe an immigration official to ignore your arrest warrant here. As to the length of time having passed to actually bring this case to trial, I have a trial coming up next month with a similar time span.

[JungleBiker]

"The Greens paid approximately $1.8 million to this official between 2002 and 2006 in exchange for more than $14 million worth of contracts"

"The bribes... were channeled to bank accounts held in the name of the official’s daughter and also a friend at banks in Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the Isle of Jersey."

http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=4079083a-09fa-4072-856c-7a64138bbb5e