Exiled PM and his wife have to be present to receive charges on SC Asset : DSI
Exiled prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife, Pojaman, have to be present to receive the formal charges on alleged share concealment in the case linking British Virgin Islands-registered Win Mark with his family's property company, SC Asset.
Department of Special Investigation (DSI)'s chief Sunai Manomai-udom said that Thaksin, Pojaman, and Busaba Damapong, were asked to report themselves with DSI between June 26-29. If Thaksin claimed that he could not be present because he is now in a foreign country, the investigators will consider whether he intended not to receive the formal charges or not. If he is considered intending to do so, the investigators will issue an order again. If he failed to be present, an arrest warrant will be issued. DSI on Tuesday charged Thaksin, his wife and Busaba, of alleged share concealment in the case linking British Virgin Islands-registered Win Mark with SC Asset. The Securities and Exchange Commission has accused Thaksin of failing to inform the authorities of his shareholding in OAI Property, the old name of SC Asset. In filing his stake, Thaksin did not include the shares he transferred to Win Mark, saying that Win Mark was not his company. If convicted under the Securities and Exchange Act, Thaksin would be subject to up to five years' imprisonment and a fine no more than twice the value of the shares he offered to sell to related parties. The value of shares Thaksin sold in 2000 was Bt969 million, meaning he could be fined Bt1.938 billion. In 2000, Thaksin said he had sold shares in three property companies - OAI Property, PT and SCK Asset - to Win Mark for a total of Bt906 million. However, the Democrats found that Win Mark also held shares in two other companies: SC Office Park and Worth Supplies. Total investment in the five firms was Bt1.5 billion. In his 2000 statement, Thaksin said Win Mark had bought the shares on expectation of reaping profits when the firms were listed. However, Win Mark had sold shares in OAI Property to Value Asset Fund of Malaysia (VAF) in 2003, and three weeks later VAF sold the shares to Overseas Globe Fund and Offshore Dynamic Fund Inc. The three funds share the same address in Malaysia. Remarkably, the sale took place before OAI Property, later renamed SC Asset, was about to list on the Stock Exchange of Thailand in November of that year. VAF also transferred the right to buy 70 million new shares of OAI at their Bt10 par value to Thaksin's daughters, Pinthongta and Paetongtarn. Based on the initial public offering price of Bt15 per share, the two children automatically netted a total profit of Bt350 million. The Nation
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Ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2005.
Ousted and living in exile, with assets frozen in Thailand, former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ordered today by the Royal Thai Police to appear on charges related to the sale of some of his family's stock holdings.

The order adds to mounting, increasingly complex legal troubles for Thaksin, the telecommunications billionaire who led Thailand until he was unseated in a coup last year.

Thaksin and his wife, Potjaman Shinawatra, who are both outside of Thailand, were both ordered to present themselves to the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) by June 29 at the latest. A relative of Potjaman's, Busaba Damapong, was also ordered to appear.

"If they intentionally fail to appear, we must issue an arrest warrant," DSI chief Sunai Manomai-udom was quoted as saying by Agence France Presse.

Noppadol Pattama, Thaksin's lawyer and spokesman in Thailand, could not say when his client would return.

"We will have to seek legal consultations among the lawyers. His security is only one factor. We will have to see what our options are and consult with him as well," Noppadol was quoted as saying by Associated Press.

Last week, interim Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont and the junta's leader, General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, both said Thaksin could return to Thailand of his own free will, in order to appeal the seizure of his assets. But later, Sonthi said Thaksin might face harm if he returned too soon.

The latest charges relate to the transfer of shares in 2000 in a real-estate company called SC Asset to a British Virgin Islands-owned company called Win Mark. Police say the Shinwatras' controlling ownership of SC Asset was illegally concealed through nominees. Potjaman's relative, Busaba Damapong, served as executive director of SC Asset.

Through nominee companies and disclosed shares, Sunai said, the Shinawatra family owned 79.87 percent of SC Asset. "Not only did they have control of a majority stake but also control over board decisions," Sunai told Associated Press.

They broke the law in failing to report their ownership in SC Asset and failing to report the transfer of the shares, Sunai said. They could face five years in prison and fined at least 500,000 baht (about US$15,000), Sunai added. 

Thaksin is also supected of violating the prohibition on Cabinet members holding shares in publicly traded companies, and could face up to ten years in prison and a 1 million baht fine for that.

===Potjaman's legal troubles, land purchase===
Potjaman and Thaksin were also charged yesterday over the purchase of a 13-acre tract of land along Ratchadaphisek Road near the Thailand Cultural Centre in Bangkok.

The Office of the Attorney General says Potjaman purchased the land in an auction that was possibly rigged. Valued at 2.1 billion baht before the 1997 Asian financial crisis, and 870 million baht after, Potjaman purchased the land in 2003 for 772 million baht.

The Attorney General's office is recommending to the Supreme Court that the land be confiscated by the government.

Potjaman is also sought in Thailand to testify before the Assets Examination Committee (AEC) on the sales of her family's Shin Corporation stock to Singapore-owned Temasek Holdings.

She sent word today that she is seeking medical treatment for headache and irregular heartbeat in Raffles Hospital in Singapore, and that she asked the AEC to delay the hearing.

Potjaman appeared in court last month to plead not guilty to charges of tax evasion in the sale of Shin Corp. stock to Temasek.

===Missing 8 million baht found===
The AEC yesterday ordered an additional seven bank accounts seized after it was discovered that the accounts are controlled by the Shinawatra and Damapong families. The accounts contain 8 million baht that was feared missing last week after the AEC ordered 21 of Thaksin's bank accounts frozen. The 8 million baht had been transferred just before the AEC's order, to the other seven accounts.

Authorities have frozen a total of 52 billion baht, or about US$1.6 billion, frozen, money they say came from the Shinawatra family's sale of Shin Corp. stock to Temasek. The stock sale prompted mass protests against Thaksin last year and was one of the factors in the coup that overthrew his government. The authorities also believe that the Shinawatras and the Damapongs have 73 billion baht from the stock sale remaining in Thailand, and officials are still hunting for another 21 billion baht to seize.