Thailand's Department of Special Investigation (DSI) planned Wednesday to issue arrest warrants for ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife Potjaman for concealing assets of SC Assets, a listed property developer, if they fail to hear charges on Friday.
DSI director-general Sunai Manomai-udom said Wednesday that it is highly likely that the pair will not report themselves to police investigators, but DSI will have to wait until the scheduled date before they could ask the court to issue arrest warrants for them.
If the couple do not show up, police investigators will meet and discuss on request for arrest warrants. Then, they will forward the case to prosecutors, asking it to find ways to extradite the pair back.
The DSI announced there was evidence the accused conspired in concealing their shares in SC Assets, a listed company, which is in violation of the Securities and Exchange Act. Involved are four overseas funds - Win Mark, Value Investment Mutual Fund (VIF), Overseas Growth Fund (OGF) and Offshore Dynamic Fund (ODF).
SC Assets was set up before 2000 by Thaksin and his family. A portion of shares in the company, as well as five other companies owned by his family, were sold to British Virgin Islands- registered Win Mark in mid-2000 at the combined value of 1.527 billion baht (33 baht to one U.S. dollar). The other five companies are PT Corporation, Worth Supplies, BP Property, SCK Estate and SC Office Park.
Three years later, Win Mark sold SC Asset shares to VIF. In the same year, VIF forewent the rights for new SC Asset shares to Thaksin's daughters - Pinthongta and Paethongtarn - who automatically netted 71 million baht in capital gains from the new shares, which were priced at 15 baht against 10 baht par value.
Shortly after that, VIF transferred the SC Assets shares to OGF and ODF, which held the shares until August 2006.
In 2004, Win Mark sold shares in the other five companies to Pinthongta and two family companies at cost, raising doubts of its intention in having held the shares for a long time.
The DSI's investigation concluded that in filing its initial public offering application in 2003, SC Assets failed to include shares owned by OGF and ODF in the Shinawatra family's stake. If included, the family's stake could have been 79.87 percent, not 60. 82 percent as stated, which meant a controlling power over the company.
That action violated the SEC Act and Busaba, then director who co-certified the filing, is liable to five years imprisonment and fines twice the value of the securities involved.
Meanwhile, Thaksin was accused of using his authority as the prime minister to influence the purchase of a land in Bangkok worth 772 million baht (33 baht to one U.S. dollar) by his wife Potjaman from the Financial Institutions Development Fund in 2003.
On Tuesday, Thai Supreme Court's Criminal Tribunal for Political Office Holder approved the request of public prosecutors to issue arrest warrants against the couple after they failed to appear in the court be officially arraigned.
Source: Xinhua
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