Thaksin to Face Criminal Charges - Vows to Return to Fight Charges

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The following appears in the BANGKOK POST:

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Thaksin 'Will Face' Criminal Charges Over Airport, Land Deal

 

(BangkokPost.com, Agencies)

 

The Bank of Thailand will file corruption charges against former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, based on evidence by the National Counter Corruption Commission that the deposed leader was involved in two fraud. Finance Minister Pridiyathorn Devakula vowed today that the cases would reach a criminal court.

 

Corruption busters appointed by Thailand's ruling junta have found that Mr Thaksin was personally involved in an alleged overpriced purchase of equipment at Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi airport and a controversial land deal in 2003.

 

The Shinawatra family's high-profile lawyer Noppadol Pattama said Mr Thaksin will return to prove his innocence if he is charged with involvement in two controversial deals.

 

Mr Noppadol claimed that the Council for National Security (CNS) and Assets Scrutiny Committee (ASC) were trying to boost their own achievements 100 days after the coup by linking Mr Thaksin with the scandals.

 

As a former committee member overseeing policies of Suvarnabhumi airport, Mr Thaksin is not involved in the purchase of CTX 9000 bomb scanners at the airport, said Mr Noppadol. He said the Assets Scrutiny Committee has interpreted laws "inaccurately" for finding that Mr Thaksin and Khunying Potjaman Shinawatra were guilty in the land deal.

 

The two cases, already widely publicised, are known locally as the CTX bomb scanner purchase for the airport, and the Ratchadaphisek land scandal, which already has enmeshed his wife, Khunying Potjaman.

 

The junta, which came to power after toppling the Thaksin government in a bloodless coup in September, justified the putsch by saying that rampant corruption during his five years in office had undermined democracy.

 

The army-installed government is investigating his family's business deals, including their January sale of Shin Corp shares to Singapore's Temasek Holdings, for alleged violations of Thai laws.

 

Mr Thaksin's family sold their 49 per cent stake in Shin Corp, a telecom giant founded by the ousted premier, to the Singaporean state-linked investment firm for $1.9 billion (78 billion baht) under a tax free deal.

 

The tax deal triggered months of street protests demanding Mr Thaksin's resignation over alleged abuse of power and corruption, culminating in the Sept 19 coup.

 

After the power grab, the military reinstated the anti-corruption commission, which had been dormant for more than a year, and set up the Asset Scrutinising Committee with the power to seize assets from Thaksin and other former officials.

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And This:

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ASC Sure Airport Case Has Grounds

 

'Important Evidence' Against Thaksin

 

SURASAK GLAHAN AMORNRAT MAHITTHIROOK

 

Investigators have ''important evidence'' to support allegations against deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and 21 others over the purchase of the baggage handling system for Suvarnabhumi airport, Amnuay Tantara of the Assets Scrutiny Committee (ASC) said yesterday. Mr Amnuay, who heads a sub-panel probing the baggage-handling contracts for the airport, refused to give any details but said the team would present the evidence to Mr Thaksin .

 

''Our full report has sufficient grounds to show how accused people benefited from the deals, but such information cannot be revealed at this stage,'' he said.

 

''We'll present such evidence to Mr Thaksin when he appears to defend himself before our inquiry sub-committee, and we'll ask him to confirm if it is genuine,'' said Mr Amnuay.

 

On Monday, the ASC accused Mr Thaksin, former transport minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit, and 20 other people of violating articles 157 and 83 of the Criminal Code in hiring contractors to provide and install the baggage-handling system and 26 CTX 9000 bomb scanner machines for the airport.

 

They allegedly made gains from hiring inexperienced contractors and accepting their over-priced quotations for the airport's systems.

 

The ASC found that Airports of Thailand (AoT) in 2003 allowed ITO Joint Venture, the contractor for the airport, to charge AoT for providing and installing the baggage-handling system and the CTX machines at prices that were higher than the real value, leading to a price difference of about 1.5 billion baht in total.

 

When the CTX deal with ITO Joint Venture was scrapped, AoT was forced to deal directly with the manufacturer, GE InVision.

 

The ASC found that the deal with the company, at an aggregate amount of US$35 million (about 1.2 billion baht), was over-priced and intentionally made it difficult to trace how much each machine cost.

 

Mr Amnuay said the ASC was waiting for the AoT or the Transport Ministry to file complaints as a damaged party to the ASC, so that the panel could then set up a sub-committee to handle the inquiry into the case.

 

The inquiry stage would take a long time to complete because it involves 22 accused people who may require additional testimony from their witnesses, he said.

 

Mr Thaksin was also accused by the ASC of violating article 100 of the National Counter Corruption Act by entering into a land deal with the Bank of Thailand (BoT) in 2003.

 

His wife Khunying Potjaman was cleared of the charge as the ASC agreed that she was not a state official and only colluded in the deal.

 

The BoT or the Finance Ministry must file complaints to the ASC as a damaged party as well to allow the inquiry into the case to proceed.

 

Transport Minister Theera Haocharoen said that the ministry will ask AoT, as a damaged party, to lodge a complaint against those implicated by the ASC.

 

Disciplinary action against the transport staff will be considered following the formal allegations, Adm Theera said.

 

The minister said the parties concerned will take action promptly as soon as the ministry receives an official report from the ASC.

 

Suvarnabhumi airport director Somchai Sawasdeephon, one of the 22 accused, shrugged off the prospect of being charged, saying he was ready to clarify the accusations.

 

Mr Thaksin's lawyer Noppadol Pattama said Mr Thaksin wants to return to Thailand to defend the accusations in person.

 

''There have been many cases brought against him so he wants to come back,'' Mr Noppadol said.

 

Meanwhile, the ASC has yet to consider whether to allow two children of the Shinawatra family to postpone testifying to the panel.

 

Panthongtae and Pinthongta Shinawatra have been called to clarify today a deal they made with Ample Rich Investments Ltd in January of this year.

 

However, according to their letter, Mr Panthongtae will be away in Japan and he has asked to have the questioning rescheduled to Jan 10 next year, while Ms Pinthongta has to study for her exams and has requested to be allowed to testify on Jan 24.

 

Kanchanapa Honghern, secretary to Khunying Potjaman, has been summoned but has asked to testify on Jan 12 as she has other business to attend to.

 

The ASC said the three can each seek just a single postponement.

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And This:

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BANGKOK, Dec 26 (TNA)

 

Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will return to Thailand to defend himself and his family if an assets probe panel levels charges against him over alleged corruption, Noppadol Pattama, a legal advisor to the Shinawatra family said on Tuesday.

 

Mr. Noppadol told a press conference that he had discussed the matter with Mr. Thaksin Tuesday morning by telephone in his self-imposed exile in Beijing, after the Assets Examination Committee (AEC) announced Monday that it had grounds to believe the ousted premier was involved in the alleged corruption cases.

 

AEC spokesperson Sak Korsaengruang said the panel found that Mr. Thaksin, former Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit, and 20 other officials had abused their power in the procurement of the baggage handling system and 26 CTX 9000 bomb scanners for Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi airport.

 

The panel also found Mr.Thaksin and his wife Pojaman guilty in regard to the 2003 land purchase in which Khunying Pojaman bought a Bt772 million tract of land in central Bangkok from the Bank of Thailand's Financial Institutions Development Fund (FIDF) through a bidding process that was allegedly pre-determined in ways that benefited Khunying Pojaman while her husband was in power as prime minister.

 

Mr. Noppadol reaffirmed that Mr. Thaksin had no involvement in the two cases.

 

He said both cases were politicised by the Council for National Security (CNS) and the AEC which wanted to demonstrate their achievements during the three months since the CNS, known before as the Council for Democratic Reform (CDR), staged its coup d'etat toppling the Thaksin government on September 19.

 

Besides, he said, regarding the land deal the assets examiners tried to interpret laws in such a way that Mr. Thaksin and his wife were seen to be guilty.

 

"When charges are levelled against him, Mr. Thaksin needs to come back to prove his innocence," Mr. Noppadol said. "He cannot fight charges while living overseas." As a Thai citizen, the lawyer asserted, Mr.Thaksin has the right to do so.

 

The Thaksin family attorney presented a letter to the AEC on Tuesday morning, asking to postpone the testimony to the panel of Mr.Thaksin's son, Panthongtae, daughter Pinthongta, and Khunying Pojaman's secretary Kanchanapha Honghern, regarding the Shin Corp share transfer from December 27 to a yet-to-be-determined date next month.

 

Earlier, the AEC had ordered the trio to appear and to be prepared to give information and answer questions regarding their case on December 27.

 

(TNA)-E009