Thaksin hit with court case over KTB loans - The Nation
Thaksin hit with court case over KTB loans
Kesinee Taengkhiew
The Nation June 14, 2012 1:00 am
Panthongtae dropped from trial; 'charges against ex-PM may be shelved if he does not attend hearings' in the Supreme Court
Attorney General Julasing Wasantasing yesterday launched a Bt9-billion lawsuit that accuses former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and 27 accomplices of involvement in fraudulent Krung Thai Bank loan transactions.
But an informed source said that if public prosecutors could not get key defendants such as Thaksin to face court, parts of the case relating to the ex-PM may be temporarily shelved.
Thaksin is currently a fugitive from justice, having fled abroad in late 2008 prior to the handing down of a two-year jail term by the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office Holders. That ruling came in another corruption case, relating to the purchase of a prime block of land on Bangkok's Ratchadaphisek Road.
'17 boxes of evidence'
In the Krung Thai Bank (KTB) case, state prosecutors submitted a writ citing an anti-graft report and 150 files in 17 boxes of evidence.
The case will be tried at the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office Holders. The high court is expected to convene its first hearing on July 25 after a nine-judge tribunal in charge of the case is named.
"The public prosecutors and graft busters have reached a joint decision to try Thaksin and 27 accomplices and exclude Thaksin's son Panthongtae and other family members from the litigation," prosecution spokesman Winai Damrongmong-kolkul said.
Earlier, the graft investigation found that funds from the alleged fraudulent loans had been routed through Panthongtae's bank accounts. The prosecution has decided, however, not to try Panthongtae, who is not an office holder and thus not under the purview of the high court's fast-track process for graft offences.
The case came to light after the 2006 coup government formed the Asset Examination Committee to look into alleged graft violations involving Thaksin.
One of the cases taken by the AEC involved a complaint filed by the Bank of Thailand against the Krung Thai Bank over three suspicious transactions.
The AEC's mandate expired before it reached the trial stage. But the National Anti Corruption Commission picked up on the AEC probe and ruled that it suspected foul play.
In June 2008 the NACC submitted the case for prosecution review. A joint panel of prosecutors and "graft busters" was set up to build the case and collect additional evidence.
The central claim of the prosecution is that then prime minister Thaksin abused his office to influence the bank's decision to grant loans to real-estate developer Krisda Mahanakorn despite the company's poor credit rating.
The alleged fraudulent deals happened when Viroj Nualkhair, one of the key defendants, was the managing director of KTB.
The deals allegedly involved a scam to bypass the credit rating to allow the bank to arrange loans to proxy companies in order to channel funds to Krisda Mahanakorn. The transactions were subsequently classified as non-performing loans.
The list of defendants can be divided into three groups: Thaksin, as office holder exerting influence over the loans; Viroj and the bank's board of directors; and three companies including Krisda Mahanakorn.
'Graft violations'
The prosecution contends that the defaulted loans were graft violations due to adverse impacts on the state-run bank.
The case will focus on three transactions. The first two are a Bt500-million loan granted to RK Professional Co Ltd and an Bt8-billion credit line extended to Golden Technology Industrial Park, which also received a Bt500-million loan for land purchase and Bt1.4-billion loan for project development.
The remaining transaction was the financing for a Bt1-billion sale of convertible preferred stocks between Krisada Mahanakorn and Grand Computer Communication. All these transactions took place during Thaksin's time as prime minister.