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Thaksin funds go missing

The Thai government asked financial institutions yesterday to track down more than US$614 million that has disappeared from the now-frozen bank accounts of toppled prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

More than 52 billion baht (US$1.6 billion) in assets belonging to Thaksin and his wife were frozen in Thai bank accounts on Monday until a court rules whether the money was illicitly obtained.

The Assets Examination Committee, an anti-graft panel set up after Thaksin was deposed in a bloodless coup last September, said the frozen funds and other financial assets belonging to the couple could later be seized if they are found to have been gained illegally.

The 52 billion baht includes money received by the Shinawatra family and associates from last year's 73.3 billion baht (then US$1.9 billion) sale of Shin Corp, the flagship company for the family's telecommunications holdings, to Temasek Holdings, a Singapore state investment company.

But the committee said that more than 20 billion baht from that sale had disappeared from Thaksin family bank accounts in Thailand before the freeze was imposed.

Committee member Khaewsan Athibodhi told reporters that the special panel has sent letters to banks and other financial institutions seeking cooperation in tracking the money trails.

Thaksin, now in exile in London, was toppled last September and the military-backed government has since investigated alleged mass corruption and abuse of power during his years in office.

In a statement received yesterday, the US-based law firm of Baker Botts said it had been authorized by Thaksin to "vigorously evaluate all international options to protect his rights and interests."

The statement said the seizure of Thaksin's assets "represents a major escalation in the Thai military junta's willingness to trample internationally accepted norms of due process and rule of law."

The law firm did not specify what actions it would take on behalf of its client.

Khaewsan said the anti-graft committee would fight the case in court if Thaksin files suit.

"The committee found evidence that Thaksin committed corruption and illegal acts during his time as prime minister," the panel said in a statement on Monday.

The committee issued two orders covering the assets of Thaksin and his wife. The first order freezes 21 of their bank accounts containing money they made from the Shin Corp sale.

Under the second order all accounts held by the couple in banks and other financial institutions in Thailand are to be frozen pending an investigation of whether they were obtained through corruption.

Thaksin's lawyer and de facto spokesman in Thailand, Noppadol Pattama, said the former prime minister and his wife feel they have been "unfairly and illegally" treated by the committee.

He described the committee's actions as "just another political decision to persecute the former prime minister."

In a listing last July of Thailand's richest people, Forbes magazine put Thaksin and his family in fourth place with an estimated fortune of US$2.2 billion.

Also see story:
Thaksin's City bid in doubt after funds freeze

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