In America we usually leave the kids out of it. This means that the press won't make a big deal out of Ronald or Dick's gay or lesbian son or daughter, Jerry's pot smoking son, W's crazy daughters, etc. (Wow, I can only think of REPUBLICAN's bad kids). But I don't think the US press would leave this one alone! "PM's kiddies use daddy's bank account (created to conceal assets in order to get elected) in offshore money laundering capital in order to avoid 10's of millions of baht in capital gains taxes." That's a good one. Unique, and Amazing, Thailand! I gotta smile (cause if I didn't I would probably cry). And I get difficulties when I go to my Thai bank to get new checks as part of the PM's great "anti-money laundering" efforts. I guess it is obvious that things could be much worse (we're talking only paper, white collar alleged crimes of greed here, not violence, drugs, murder ... (and they are, it seems, cleared of insider transaction allegations)).

Anyway, he has more reasons to avoid his resignation at all costs now, he's gotta keep his critics away from P & P, too. And that may require proof of improperly setting up accounts to conceal assets! Stay tuned, and watch Mr. Squeaky clean get out of this one as well!

SHIN EXPLANATION: Critics demand proof

Published on February 02, 2006

Family lawyer offers no documents to back up claims; SEC has no record of share transfer.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, the Democrat Party and academics yesterday demanded that Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his children produce records of the money trail and other legal documents to support their claim that transactions between them and the tax-haven Ample Rich Investments Ltd were properly and legally executed.

This followed lawyer Suvarn ValaisathienтАЩs high-profile news conference yesterday at which he defended all the transactions between the prime minister, his son Panthongtae, daughter Pinthongta and Ample Rich between 1999 and 2006 as having been within the boundaries of the laws and financial regulations.

Suvarn stuck closely to a two-page statement in which he explained how Thaksin set up Ample Rich, ThaksinтАЩs transfer of Ample Rich to Panthongtae, PinthongtaeтАЩs becoming a shareholder of Ample Rich and Ample RichтАЩs sale of 329.2 million shares of Shin Corp to Panthongtae and Pinthongta.

However, Suvarn did not provide any hard evidence in the form of financial records or company documents to support the defence contained in the two-page statement.

Kiat Sitthee-amorn, a party-list MP of the opposition Democrat Party, said SuvarnтАЩs explanation, which was broadcast live on several TV stations, lacked the sort of hard evidence needed to convince the Thai public that the transactions were made in a straightforward manner.

тАЬIt was just a statement made by one person in defence of the premier and his family in the Ample Rich case. Khun Suvarn did not produce any legal documents, or a money trail, to back up his words,тАЭ Kiat said.

Kiat said it was not necessary to set up a foreign entity such as Ample Rich Investments to list Shin CorpтАЩs shares on the US Nasdaq stock market, as claimed by Suvarn.

тАЬShin Corp could directly list its shares on the Nasdaq. Foreign entities that register in the British Virgin Islands are known to do so for tax-avoidance and money-laundering purposes,тАЭ Kiat said.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) yesterday asked Panthongtae and Pinthongta to submit all official documents relating to their involvement in Ample Rich.

The SECтАЩs senior assistant secretary-general, Chalee Chanthanayingyong, said that if they could not do so, the SEC would directly contact regulators in the British Virgin Islands tax haven, where Ample Rich is registered.

тАЬWe do not 100-per-cent believe the information [provided by Suvarn] тАУ we need to conduct further investigations to see if there are legal papers supporting it,тАЭ he said.

тАЬPrimarily, weтАЩll press for information from the two persons who are the major shareholders [of Ample Rich]. We believe they will continue to cooperate, as in the past they have always submitted the required information to us,тАЭ Chalee said.

Suvarn said the SEC asked Thaksin about Ample Rich on July 11, 2001. On July 25, 2001, Suvarn said, Ample Rich confirmed that 100 per cent of the shares in Ample Rich had been transferred from Thaksin to Panthongtae in December 2000.

But Chalee said there is no record of the SEC having been notified about the transfer of 100 per cent of Ample Rich from Thaksin to Panthongtae in December 2000, as Suvarn claimed. However, he said it might be possible the SECтАЩs legal department obtained a classified report when Thaksin stood trial on asset-concealment charges.

Sangsit Piriyarangsan, director of Chandrakasem Rajabhat UniversityтАЩs Good Governance Research Centre, said he was not sure if Suvarn, a tax expert, had seen any legal documents relating to Ample Rich before defending the premier and his family.

тАЬPerhaps Khun Suvarn was verbally informed [of the situation] by the premier. After listening to him, itтАЩs clear that there is no evidence at all that the premier really transferred the Shin Corp shares (held by Ample Rich) to his children,тАЭ Sangsit said.

Thaksin could be impeached if it is proven that he did not properly report his ownership of Ample Rich, incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, to the National Counter Corruption Commission.

The premier should not have set up Ample Rich in the British Virgin Islands in the first place, Sangsit said, because it is a well-known tax haven and money-laundering centre.

тАЬBy law, the premier should also have stated in his asset declaration filed with the National Counter Corruption Commission back in 2001 that he had transferred his 100-per-cent stake in Ample Rich to his son,тАЭ Sangsit said.

тАЬIтАЩm also wondering who paid for these shares or if there was a loan for Panthongtae, whose financial records at the time should be examined to substantiate the share transfer,тАЭ he said.

Democrat Party and Opposition Leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said only legal documents could clarify the Ample Rich case since the public still did not know exactly when all the transactions mentioned by Suvarn actually took place.

тАЬEven the last two filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Panthongtae and Pinthongta Shinawatra were self-contradictory. These filings also contradicted Khun SuvarnтАЩs clarification. In short, he did not answer the question of whether the premier and his family fully complied with the law,тАЭ Abhisit said.

Thanabul Jiranuwat of Rangsit UniversityтАЩs Law Faculty said the public was still no better informed about the Ample Rich case because Suvarn had not told the whole truth.

Kobsak Sabhavasu, executive director of the Democrat Party, said SuvarnтАЩs explanation was not sufficient to have made all the dealings in the Ample Rich case transparent.


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