First, the latest legal action once again underlines the fact that the assets of Thaksin, his spouse and his children were falsely declared on several occasions when they were required by National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) law to make a proper disclosure.

In the case of SC Assets Plc, the Department of Special Investigations also charged Thaksin and his spouse of concealing their actual holdings in the listed firm, thus violating the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) law. This time, the nominees included Win Mark, Value Investment Mutual Fund, Overseas Growth Fund and the Offshore Dynamic Fund. Previously, Ample Rich and other nominees were used in the Bt73-billion tax-free sale of Shin Corp to Temasek Holdings of Singapore that led to Thaksin's downfall. Thaksin and his spouse also allegedly hid their Shin Corp holdings until the assets were sold in early 2006.

Second, the allegations that Thaksin abused his power while in office are now stronger. In the Ratchadaphisek land deal, prosecutors told the court that the ex-premier violated Section 100 of the NCCC law, which bars state officials and spouses from entering into contracts with the state, including bidding for a state-owned property.

In addition, prosecutors believe that unfair competition led to the November 25, 2002 transaction in which the ex-premier's wife outbid two other rivals. For instance, the construction of high-rises on the 33-rai site was not allowed prior to the bidding. However, the ban was lifted after the ex-premier's wife won the bidding.

In the case of Shin Corp, the allegations of abuse of power are based on the fact that the market capitalisation of the Shinawatra family's holdings jumped from just over Bt20 billion to Bt73 billion over the five-year period Thaksin was in power. For instance, the Board of Investment granted substantial tax breaks to Shin units, such as Shin Satellite, resulting in a sharp rise in the market value of holding firm Shin Corp before it was sold to Tema-sek at a huge profit of nearly Bt50 billion for the Shinawatra family. Given this, many state agencies and market authorities appear to have been obviously disabled during the Thaksin years, including the Revenue Department for its failure to collect a huge amount of taxes on the Bt73-billion Shin sale; the SEC and the Stock Exchange of Thailand for failing to take against SC Asset Plc; and the Financial Institutions Development Fund for approving the sale of state-owned land to the ex-premier's wife.

Now that the ex-premier is about to take over the Manchester City football club, relevant authorities, such as the Anti-Money Laundering Organisation, may have to investigate his sources of funding for the transaction following the freeze of his assets amounting to over Bt50 billion in Thailand.

The Assets Examination Committee (AEC) took the first action on June 11 by freezing Bt52 billion of Thaksin's money in 21 bank accounts. On June 18, the AEC found that Bt8.8 billion was taken out from June 4 to June 8. On June 20, it issued another order, freezing an additional Bt4.9 billion. Hence, a total of Bt57 billion out of the Bt73 billion in proceeds from the sale of Shin Corp is already frozen as authorities are tracing the remaining Bt16 billion.

Nophakhun Limsamarnphun

 nop1122@yahoo.com