Thai officials have traced an additional US$620 million in assets of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and will freeze them as they investigate his alleged corruption, a government official said yesterday.
Last week, the Assets Examination Committee (AEC) froze 52.88 billion baht of Thakisn's money, believed to be proceeds from the sale of his telecommunications firm Shin Corp to Temasek Holdings, a Singaporean government investment company in January last year.
But the government said 20 billion baht was missing from the 74.3 billion baht sale.
"The AEC tracked the money trail and found that more than 20 billion baht was shifted to the accounts of companies instead of to individual accounts. AEC is set to freeze those accounts," Auditor General Jaruvan Maintaka said.
The AEC has frozen Thaksin's assets pending his trial on charges of corruption and abuse of power.
On Tuesday police ordered Thaksin to return home to face charges that he concealed his ownership of millions of dollars worth of shares from the Thai stock exchange. The charges are unrelated to the Shin Corp sale.
Police said they have strong evidence that Thaksin and his wife Pojamarn secretly held shares through nominee companies in SC Asset Corp, a Shinawatra family real estate company. He said they must present themselves to police between June 26 and June 29.
The order that he report by June 29 came just a day after state prosecutors said they would seek to have him and his wife tried for a suspicious land deal.
The order gives Thaksin a deadline for returning home for the first time since he was ousted in a coup last September while he was in New York. He has divided his time since then between a residence in London and travel around Asia. His wife and other family members continue to live in Thailand, but frequently travel abroad.
Thaksin became a billionaire in the telecommunications sector before entering politics.
Thaksin was ousted after demonstrations calling for him to step down because of alleged corruption and abuse of power.
SPEAKING OUT: After Siranudh Scott’s allegations surfaced, celebrities and public figures took to social media to share their own experiences of sexual misconduct and abuse A high-profile alleged sexual abuse case within a wealthy Thai beer brewing family has prompted a wave of painful accounts from survivors of unconnected abuse in the conservative nation. Siranudh Scott, a member of the billionaire Thai family that founded the ubiquitous Singha beer brand, posted an emotional video this month accusing his elder brother Sunit of repeatedly abusing him when he was a teenager. Sunit, who is in his 30s, later denied the allegations in a video posted online, but Singha parent Boonrawd dismissed him from his executive role with the company on Tuesday last week. “I felt I needed to speak
SEEKING ORDER: Rodrigo Paz said that ‘anyone who wants to destroy the nation will have to deal with this president and the full force of the constitution’ Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz on Wednesday said that the nation was at a “breaking point” after nearly a month of protests that have caused shortages of food, fuel and medicine. Paz, who took office six months ago amid the worst economic crisis there in four decades, is battling a groundswell of fury over his policies. The political capital, La Paz, has been besieged by low-income workers and members of the indigenous majority calling for his resignation. “The country needs order and is reaching breaking point,” the 58-year-old said at a public event in La Paz, renewing his appeal for dialogue. On Tuesday, the Bolivian
‘CROSSING THE LINE’: China’s embassy in Seoul criticized US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson, asking if his ‘hostile’ remarks were authorized by Washington South Korea and the US are in talks over recent public remarks by the commander of US Forces Korea, Seoul’s presidential office said yesterday, after the comments drew sharp criticism from China. In a recent podcast interview, US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson described South Korea as “the dagger in the heart of Asia” from China’s east coast, prompting the Chinese embassy in Seoul to say that he had “truly crossed the line.” The interview came amid growing speculation that Washington might seek to expand the role of US Forces Korea in countering the growing regional influence of China, a key
Forecasters in Europe yesterday warned of exceptional heat as record temperatures driven by a “heat dome” push temperatures well above seasonal norms across the continent. The surge follows a record-breaking Monday, with France logging its hottest day in the month of May on record, its weather agency said, and the UK also posting unprecedented highs. A so-called “heat dome” of warm air from northern Africa trapped under a high-pressure system over western Europe is behind the high temperatures not usually seen until high summer. Restrictions on outdoor work were imposed in parts of Italy, beaches in southwest France filled earlier than usual and
RSS