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Published on November 27, 2007

Former premier Thaksin Shinawatra has been dealt another major blow with the special anti-graft agency resolving yesterday to press new charges over questionable administrative decisions made while in office.

The move by the Assets Examination Committee (AEC) comes less than a month before the general election, in which Thaksin's allies in the People Power Party are front-runners in recent public opinion polls.

The AEC will in next two weeks file charges against Thaksin with the Attorney General's Office, which will then forward them to the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office Holders.

It will accuse him of illegally concealing a controlling stake in Shin Corp, at that time owned by his family, when he first became prime minister in 2001, and of illegally using his political power to benefit the corporation, AEC secretary Kaewsan Atibodhi said yesterday.

The panel's subcommittee investigating corruption allegations involving the telecom sector yesterday reported its findings to the full AEC meeting and informed the board about its decision to file charges against the ex-premier, Kaewsan said.

"Thaksin owned shares in the company through holdings by his children and relatives when he was prime minister. His wife [Khunying Pojaman] also held the company's shares and Thaksin absolutely knew about her stakes in Shin Corp," Kaewsan said.

The panel will ask the court to seize Bt73 billion worth of Thaksin's assets in compensation for the wrongdoing, according to Kaewsan, who added that if convicted of all charges, Thaksin could receive a 26-year prison sentence.

The AEC has ordered a freeze on about Bt66 billion in his family's assets, mostly in local bank accounts.

The subcommittee discovered there were five cases in which administrative decisions made by the Thaksin government caused damages to the state, Kaewsan said. These were the conversion of telecom concession fees into excise tax; the Export-Import Bank of Thailand's extension of Bt4-billion in loans to the Burma government; the reduction of shared income for TOT Plc from the sale of pre-paid phone cards; the additional 25 per cent cost of signal roaming given to TOT; and the reduction of Shin Satellite's shareholding commitment in a joint venture with the state.

Thaksin was found to be directly involved in the first two cases, by making instructions on the questionable decisions.

The former premier already faces two arrest warrants over two earlier corruption charges, but he has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

Kaewsan said Thaksin would face criminal action, and not a five-year ban from politics, as he was no longer in office.

Bancha Khaengkhan

 The Nation