football club boss’s spouse convicted of tax evasion
Jail term for ex-Thai PM’s wife
Published:
A Thai Court has found the wife of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra guilty of tax evasion and has sentenced her to three years in prison.
Yesterday’s long-awaited ruling strikes a major blow to Thaksin, the Manchester City FC owner, who was ousted in a 2006 coup.
He has long denied any wrongdoing by his family in the tax case and several other corruption cases against him.
Pojaman Shinawatra is widely expected to appeal.
Thaksin accompanied his wife to Bangkok’s Criminal Court yesterday, where several hundred supporters clapped and cheered the family’s arrival. The couple’s three children were also present.
The 51-year-old former first lady, her brother and secretary face charges of evading millions of dollars in taxes in 1997 through a complicated transfer of shares in the family’s flagship business that involved placing stocks in the name of one of the family’s maids. All three have pleaded not guilty.
The verdict is the first in several corruption lawsuits against Thaksin and his inner circle.
“The three defendants have high economic and social status,” said judge Pramote Pipatpramote, adding they should have aspired to set an example for society.
“But, they were working together to avoid taxes, even though the taxes amounted to little compared to their assets.”
The former first lady looked stunned as the judge pronounced the verdict.
She was promptly released on five million baht (£75,000) bail and walked out of Bangkok Criminal Court with her family to a waiting car.
Thaksin, who was ranked as Thailand’s fourth-richest billionaire in 2006 prior to the coup, is now ranked 16th richest in the country, according to Forbes Asia Magazine.
No longer a billionaire, he is now worth £200million after Thai authorities froze more than £1billion of his family’s assets pending the corruption cases against him.
Thaksin’s spokesman, Pongthep Thepkanjana, said lawyers planned to appeal.
“Thaksin is not disheartened,” he said. “They respect the court ruling but it is not the end. We will fight until the end.”
The court also sentenced her brother to three years in prison and the secretary to two years.
Thaksin was ousted after being accused of massive corruption and abuse of power during his two terms as prime minister.
Four corruption cases have been filed in the courts against Thaksin, two others against his wife, and three cases against two of his children. Many others are under investigation.
Yesterday’s case centred on a 1997 transfer of shares in Shinawatra Computer, the company that later became Shin Corp, Thailand’s biggest telecommunications company, before it was sold in 2006 to a Singapore state-owned company for £1.1billion.
