Freeze 'unfair' for Bt45b
Ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra's defence team plans to dispute the blanket freeze on his Bt52 billion by arguing that Bt45 billion was earned before he entered politics and should be released.
The Assets Examination Committee would discuss today whether to freeze more bank accounts in connection with the corruption investigation against Thaksin, a source said yesterday. On June 11, 21 bank accounts held by Thaksin, his wife Pojaman, and their children were frozen and on Monday, seven more were added. Lawyer Noppadon Patama said yesterday the AEC should immediately revoke its order on savings accrued as a private citizen. "The AEC has no justification to freeze assets declared before 2003," he said, adding the AEC was trying to bully Thaksin by withholding all of his money and causing him hardship. Noppadon also expressed optimism that Thaksin's defence team could win a favourable verdict in the Ratchadaphisek land case involving his wife Pojaman. The AEC-appointed panel has spelled out its procedures for appealing against the freeze. The defence must fill out a form demonstrating how the assets were earned. The form could be downloaded from the website of the Office of the Auditor-General at www.oag.go.th.
|
