Juthamas and daughter go to court to fight bribery case

[webfact]

BRIBERY
Juthamas and daughter go to court to fight bribery case
THE NATION


Juthamas Siriwan, 68, and her daughter Jittisopha Siriwan, 41, attend a criminal trial in which they are accused of taking Bt60 million in bribes from a US businessman to secure the right to organise the Bangkok International Film Festival from 2002 to 2007

BANGKOK: -- FORMER Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) governor Juthamas Siriwan and daughter showed up at the Criminal Court yesterday to fight corruption and related charges over an alleged Bt60-million bribe paid to them by an American couple for the right to hold the Bangkok International Film Festival from 2002 to 2007.

The court set February 1, 2016 for hearings on charges filed by prosecutors based on investigation by the anti-graft agency and related entities.

Prosecutors have lined up 25 witnesses to testify against Juthamas, 68, and her daughter Jittisopha, 41, for allegedly seeking the kickback from the American business couple. Juthamas was TAT governor in 2005 when the kickback was allegedly paid.

She was also charged with rigging the bidding for the right to hold the Bangkok film festivals and violated state procurement law.

Juthamas and Jittisopha were accompanied by lawyer Thanakorn Waekwaree. The two suspects were previously released on a bail of Bt1 million each. Both have denied the charges and will fight the case in court.

Prosecutors said they have 25 witnesses and other evidence, including members of an investigation committee and anti-graft officials, while Juthamas and Jittisopha said they had a list of 97 items for the defence and asked the court to issue orders for some of the documents which will be used in the court.

Citing the hearing process, the court agreed to give the defence more time to prepare as some need to be translated into Thai for use in the court so the first hearing was postponed till February 1 next year.

Juthamas said she was not worried about the prospect of being extradited to the US where the American couple, Gerald and Patricia Green, have already been sentenced to six months in jail and house detention in 2010 in connection with the alleged bribery case in Thailand.

The American couple were in the film-making business in Los Angeles and allegedly paid the kickback to Juthamas to secure the right to organize the film events in Bangkok without going through a proper bidding process.

The US has also sought the extradiction of Juthamas for legal action in its country. It remains unclear if the suspects would still be sent to the US after facing a trial in Thailand.

Earlier, the former TAT governor did not show up and the case was suspended.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Juthamas-and-daughter-go-to-court-to-fight-bribery-30272616.html

-- The Nation 2015-11-10

[bangkokfrog]

You would think this is an open and shut case given that the Greens have already been found guilty of paying the bribe in a U.S. court. I would love to see it, but I don't think that Juthamas or her daughter will do time here or be extradited. There is no way that this amount of money was destined for their pockets alone. Also, Juthamas was TAT governor in the heyday of the Thaksin years (2002-2006), and I expect has a lot of other dirt on people. Alternatively, we might soon see her relaxing under a far off desert sun.

[clockman]

You got to love it. Pure Thainess. She did not show up,and the case was suspended!

[ezzra]

The wheels of justice sure turn very slow in this country, so slow, it makes you wonder if there is someone

putting and piling obstacles and stops to prevent the course of justice from taking place...

[AlphMichaels]

If they didn't present themselves in a US court, they would be immediately in contempt of court and warrants issued for their arrest. Extradite and let them do this there. Big awakening from a jail cell.

[upena]

Guilty as charged

[godden]

Bale should be rescinded forthwith.

[dcsw53]

You got to love it. Pure Thainess. She did not show up,and the case was suspended!

She was at the Macedonian consulate that day with a letter from Thaksin, to collect the family passports.

[arrowsdawdle]

The wheels of justice sure turn very slow in this country, so slow, it makes you wonder if there is someone

putting and piling obstacles and stops to prevent the course of justice from taking place...

What, it's only been ten years and it's an open and shut case. Two million bucks buys a lot of favors in baht.

[borisloosebrain]

They've had years to translate defense documents into Thai : what a crap excuse, proceed and let them scramble to get their sh## together.

[skildpadden]

Why only charge her and the daughter? I believe you could charge basically all of TAT management for corruption, mismanagement, distortion of facts and figures.

[Sydebolle]

Well, on September 11th, 2009, an US court found Gerald (born 1932) and Patricia Green (born 1948) guilty of paying USD 1.8 million; at that time THB 72 million. The conviction covered money laundering and bribing a Thai official, the US attorney’s office announced on Monday, September 14th, 2009 (source Bangkok Post 9/14/2009)

It took the US authorities almost two years due to the excellent corporation from the other side of the Pacific.
On Tuesday, December 18th, 2007 the couple got arrested at Los Angeles Airport upon leaving a flight originating from Thailand. Their company Film Festival Management, found in 2003, was awarded specifically to run the annual Bangkok Film Festival (source Scott Glover, Los Angeles Times 12/19/2007).

I remember faintly that, during the governor's tenure, she visited Pattaya, stood in front of Walking Street and confirmed that there is no prostitution whatsoever in town. So, technically it could be that she has a problem with her eye sight for not seeing all those things happening around her.

But the case will fizzle away, like (almost) anything else in this country - how sad! Convict the culprits, lock em up and throw away the key - do this for a couple of times and this place will tidy itself up automatically. Wishful thinking?

[GOLDBUGGY]

Hell! Pay me 2 Million Dollars and I would be glad to go back to the USA for 6 months in prison and house arrest. How do these guys do this and yet get away with such low sentences?

For 6 months in prison that is over $11,000 a day. I have worked hard in a lot worst places than that and for a lot less money than that to.

[Patje55]

it was not a bribe, it was a gift

[elgordo38]

You got to love it. Pure Thainess. She did not show up,and the case was suspended!

Usually an arrest warrant is issued on the spot what arrogance. Maybe they should set the trial date to suit her business calendar what a tough looking individual. Some of that 60,000,000 baht greased a lot of wheels here and I am sure there is lots of grease left to grease some more should the need arise. Sorry Mr. P this is another black mark on your fight against corruption. You can do the talk but lets see you do the walk.

[elgordo38]

The wheels of justice sure turn very slow in this country, so slow, it makes you wonder if there is someone

putting and piling obstacles and stops to prevent the course of justice from taking place...

The obstacle is called money. I am sure covering their tracks and delaying the case was figured in in how much of the 60 million baht they would actually retain you know just in case they were caught like now. There is a cost to doing corruption here wheels must be greased its not all gravy. Do they have an extradition treaty with the US and if so is this a extraditable offence. She does not seem to worried about that. I sincerely hope when she ran TAT that all the tourist figures were correct and not fudged? Dear oh dear who can one believe anymore. Is the daughter going along in an observer basis to see if justice or corruption prevails. Mother sure is a great role model.

Edited November 10, 2015 by elgordo38

[prakhonchai nick]

You got to love it. Pure Thainess. She did not show up,and the case was suspended!

In EVERY case, where an accused fails to show, they should immediately be arrested, and locked up pending the hearing (whenever that may be). Absolutely no bail should be given.

[spidermike007]

The wheels of justice sure turn very slow in this country, so slow, it makes you wonder if there is someone

putting and piling obstacles and stops to prevent the course of justice from taking place...

It might be referred to as a complete broken criminal justice system. All of the judges, prosecutors nationwide need to be replaced with competent people who are not fully compromised. The system needs to be rebuilt from the ground up. Are there five honest judges or prosecutors in Thailand?

[jaywalker]

The wheels of justice sure turn very slow in this country, so slow, it makes you wonder if there is someone

putting and piling obstacles and stops to prevent the course of justice from taking place...

The obstacle is called money. I am sure covering their tracks and delaying the case was figured in in how much of the 60 million baht they would actually retain you know just in case they were caught like now. There is a cost to doing corruption here wheels must be greased its not all gravy. Do they have an extradition treaty with the US and if so is this a extraditable offence. She does not seem to worried about that. I sincerely hope when she ran TAT that all the tourist figures were correct and not fudged? Dear oh dear who can one believe anymore. Is the daughter going along in an observer basis to see if justice or corruption prevails. Mother sure is a great role model.

Likely the money is in a USD account in Singapore & they are waiting for it to hit 45THB = $1USD before they pay some fines....and more bribes.

[Baerboxer]

Presumably was and maybe still close to the Shins.

No doubt that she's guilty based on the American trial of the bribers. But, she was once in high places, which requires high connections. So, she'll drag it on and on and eventually it will simply fade away.

ThB 72 million at the time - lot of dosh to be spread around. She will know who else benefited and that might be too embarrassing to let out.

The only worry she has is if her patrons are not as influential as she seemingly believes.

One thing, the Thai verdict will be based on different "principles" to the one in the American courts.

[jayboy]

The wheels of justice sure turn very slow in this country, so slow, it makes you wonder if there is someone

putting and piling obstacles and stops to prevent the course of justice from taking place...

But they can turn very quickly when it suits.

[Tom Cahill]

If they didn't present themselves in a US court, they would be immediately in contempt of court and warrants issued for their arrest. Extradite and let them do this there. Big awakening from a jail cell.

You're right, but I am fairly definite that it's the same here. It's the spread the blame concept here. No doubt if they do turn up at some later date, they'll park on a double yellow line and miss their scheduled time to talk or something incredibly childish; so they can take 'some of the blame'.

The court system here's not actually as bad as people think in the corruption, but they're just incredibly bad at covering up the corruption that's standard everywhere else.

I'm interested if anyone knows. I see that the forensic reports from the Koh Tao murders is in English as they don't have adequate words in Thai to properly describe things in their native tong. Is there any plan to make technical or financial cases come under a ASEAN constant and make it be in English? I think eventually it will go that way. It's the way most other comparative countries deal with these things when they get a bit more developed.

[Prbkk]

The wheels of justice sure turn very slow in this country, so slow, it makes you wonder if there is someone

putting and piling obstacles and stops to prevent the course of justice from taking place...

The obstacle is called money. I am sure covering their tracks and delaying the case was figured in in how much of the 60 million baht they would actually retain you know just in case they were caught like now. There is a cost to doing corruption here wheels must be greased its not all gravy. Do they have an extradition treaty with the US and if so is this a extraditable offence. She does not seem to worried about that. I sincerely hope when she ran TAT that all the tourist figures were correct and not fudged? Dear oh dear who can one believe anymore. Is the daughter going along in an observer basis to see if justice or corruption prevails. Mother sure is a great role model.

Likely the money is in a USD account in Singapore & they are waiting for it to hit 45THB = $1USD before they pay some fines....and more bribes.

edit: link

250,000 Euros was frozen in an Irish account in 2014..by the Criminal Assets Bureau

http://www.irishexaminer.com/business/cab-secures-orders-freezing-250k-302931.html

Edited November 10, 2015 by Prbkk

[wandasloan]

snip snip

I remember faintly that, during the governor's tenure, she visited Pattaya, stood in front of Walking Street and confirmed that there is no prostitution whatsoever in town. So, technically it could be that she has a problem with her eye sight for not seeing all those things happening around her.

Good background on the case, but this part is wrong. You (mis)-remember Miss Universe's sister the high-profile child-activist and political dabbler Pavena Hongsakul.

Presumably was and maybe still close to the Shins.

Presuming is usually a bad idea. Juthamas was a leading member of Puea Pandin Party, not Thaksin-led parties. She never was particularly close to Thaksin. So far as is known she *IS* not at all close. As prime minister, he appointed her as TAT head, but he appointed hundreds of high ranking and thousands of ordinary people, too. She wasn't an enemy, but she wasn't even close to special-friend.

Edited November 10, 2015 by wandasloan

[oldsailor35]

Guilty as charged

Don't i just hate it when jealousy rears its ugly slimy head !

[oldsailor35]

snip snip

I remember faintly that, during the governor's tenure, she visited Pattaya, stood in front of Walking Street and confirmed that there is no prostitution whatsoever in town. So, technically it could be that she has a problem with her eye sight for not seeing all those things happening around her.

Good background on the case, but this part is wrong. You (mis)-remember Miss Universe's sister the high-profile child-activist and political dabbler Pavena Hongsakul.

Presumably was and maybe still close to the Shins.

Presuming is usually a bad idea. Juthamas was a leading member of Puea Pandin Party, not Thaksin-led parties. She never was particularly close to Thaksin. So far as is known she *IS* not at all close. As prime minister, he appointed her as TAT head, but he appointed hundreds of high ranking and thousands of ordinary people, too. She wasn't an enemy, but she wasn't even close to special-friend.

Some just cannot help themselves. They blame Thaksin for just about everything

[Nobb]

When there is a chance of you losing money or going to jail always fight it if you have money and connections. In Thailand nothing is impossible even if you are totally guilty!

[gemguy]

Just follow the money trail.

Guilty, before proven to be guilty.

[Jim walker]

And what will happen after the show trial absolutely nothing Not enough Thai evidence of a crime committed but on the other hand just to keep the minions happy you will both not be allowed to hold high office for 2 weeks and must pay a fine of 2000Baht now go home and count your money and don’t let me see you back in my court again.

[Nemesis7]

Just another typical example of corruption in Thailand which is so wide spread even involving family members like wife and daughter.