Wrangle over billions to be decided by court
Two of Thaksin Shinawatra's adult children are insisting they held company shares in their own right, and their holdings should be spared if the court rules that their father's fortune should be confiscated by the state.
Panthongtae and Pinthongta Shinawatra say they were not nominees holding assets on behalf of their father, so the state should release their 40 billion baht share of the 76 billion baht which it seized from Thaksin. The court will hand down its ruling on Feb 26.
Kittiporn Arunrat, lawyer for Mr Panthongtae and Ms Pinthongta, yesterday filed closing statements on behalf of his clients with the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions.
The court has wrapped up its hearing into a complaint filed by prosecutors that Thaksin accumulated a fortune illegally by abusing his authority when he was prime minister, issuing policies that benefited his family business which held shares in Shin Corp.
In the closing statements filed by their lawyer, Mr Panthongtae and Ms Pinthongta said their wealth, earned from the sale of 1.06 billion Shin Corp shares to Temasek Holdings, was their own, and not part of the family fortune. Neither Thaksin nor their mother, Khunying Potjaman na Pombejra, had a stake in the assets, they said.
Mr Panthongtae said he bought 30.92 million shares in Shin Corp from his father and 42.47 million shares from his mother on Sept 1, 2000, for 10 baht each and paid for them.
On Aug 29, 2001, Shin Corp diluted the par value of its shares from 10 baht to one baht. Mr Panthongtae's holding increased to 733.95 million shares.
He sold 367 million shares on Sept 9, 2002, and 73 million shares on June 3, 2003, to Ms Pinthongta for one baht a share.
On Jan 20, 2006, Mr Panthongtae bought 164.60 million shares from Ample Rich Co for one baht each.
Thaksin had set up Ample Rich on the British Virgin Islands in a plan to list Shin Corp on the Nasdaq in the US. The company held 32.92 million Shin Corp shares.
At the time, Thaksin was not involved in Ample Rich as he had sold his sole share to Mr Panthongtae for US$5 on Dec 1, 2000, as a birthday gift,
Mr Panthongtae said he decided to follow his uncle Bannapot Damapong's decision to sell his Shin Corp shares to Temasek Holdings for 49.25 baht each on Jan 23, 2006. His uncle wanted the cash to pursue other business interests.
Mr Panthongtae and Ms Pinthongta made 17.15 billion baht and 23.59 billion baht respectively from the share sales.
The son said he used the money to invest in other businesses, including buying land in Nakhon Ratchasima. His father and mother were not involved in his decision.
Ms Pinthongta's closing statement said she held 604.6 million Shin Corp shares for five years without any authority raising a complaint, until the Asset Scrutiny Committee was set up in 2007.
She said Mr Panthongtae sold her his Shin Corp shares of his own free will. She asked her mother's secretary, Kanchanapa Honghern, to manage the shares, but she received all dividends herself.
Source: Bangkok Post
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