Maintenant ce n'est plus autorisé à rentrer, c'est convoquer...
www.bangkokpost.com/...20Jun2007_news01.php
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has
ordered deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, his wife Potjaman, Bussaba Damapong and a representative of SC Asset to
appear to face charges of concealing assets by June 29.
The DSI set June 26 to 29 as the period for the four to hear the charges in person after the summons was issued last Friday.
"Those who have been accused can defend themselves. And if they have sufficient reasons to counter the charges, the DSI will not indict them, " said DSI director-general Sunai Manomai-udom yesterday while explaining the case.
Mrs Bussaba is Mr Thaksin's sister-in-law and a former executive of SC Asset. She is the wife of Bannapot, who is Khunying Potjaman's step-brother.
Noppadon Pattama, Mr Thaksin's legal adviser, said the former prime minister and his wife, who is now in
Singapore, may ask the DSI to allow them to appoint representatives to act on their behalf in the event they are busy or ill.
But the DSI chief said they cannot assign other people to appear.
The accused have the right to postpone a summons three times but if they are found to be trying not to meet the investigators, they will be served with arrest warrants, Mr Sunai said.
If they are abroad, they will have to return to
Thailand, he added.
Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont guaranteed Mr Thaksin's safety if he comes back to fight the DSI's charges in
Thailand. The government will take special care of him but will not detain him because the charges against him are not finalised, he added.
The assets concealment case involving Mr Thaksin and his kin has been under investigation by the DSI since March of this year at the request of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
DSI investigators, with help from the SEC, traced shares through several firms and found that the Shinawatra family reported its shareholding in SC Asset at 60.82% in its listing filing to the SEC and also in its prospectus when the shares were floated to the public.
But the family did not include its hidden shares held by Overseas Growth Fund and Offshore Dynamic Fund, which were its nominees.
If the stakes held by the two funds were included, the Shinawatra family would own up to 79.87% of SC Asset.
Holding a 79.87% stake means that the family could control the board and the shareholders' meeting even in the case of important issues where up to three-quarters of shareholders' votes who attend the meeting are required.
Mr Thaksin himself should be found guilty of wrongly declaring assets when he was prime minister, Mr Sunai said.
Mr Sunai said the DSI will forward the case to the National Counter Corruption Commission later as Mr Thaksin did not report his hidden assets when he was prime minister.
If convicted, Mr Thaksin and his wife could face jail of up to two years or a fine of up to 500, 000 baht and a fine of another 10, 000 baht a day since committing the offences, or both.
SC Asset and Mrs Bussaba could face up to five years in jail and a fine of up to two times the sale price of the assets.
Prasong Vinaiphat, the SEC's deputy secretary-general, said that after the DSI sent the case on to the prosecutors, the SEC would get involved by providing additional information.
"We are now asking for information from the DSI if any management executives of SC Asset had roles in this case. If anyone is accused of wrongdoing, the company will be prohibited from carrying out financial transactions such as a recapitalisation, " he said. Accused executives would be required to resign from the listed company as well.
Patareeya Benjapolchai, president of the Stock Exchange of
Thailand (SET), said market regulators would not suspend or halt trading of SC Asset shares.
SC Asset told the SET that it disclosed its information legally in regard to the sale of its shares in its prospectus and that it proceeded under the law.
In another case, the ousted premier and his kin will submit a request within this week to the Assets Scrutiny Committee (ASC), asking for a partial unfreezing of the assets that they acquired before Mr Thaksin's first tenure as prime minister in 2001, said Mr Noppadon.
The ASC recently ordered local banks to freeze the bank accounts of Mr Thaksin, Khunying Potjaman, his two grown-up children Panthongtae and Pinthongta, his younger sister Yingluck Shinawatra and those of Mr Bannapot, holding over 52 billion baht.
But Mr Noppadon said Mr Thaksin and Khunying Potjaman had already made about 46 billion baht in total prior to Mr Thaksin's first term in office, which included Shin Corp shares valued at around 31 billion baht.
