THAILAND: Military sets up probe into outset billionaire Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra

Thailand's new military rulers appointed a long-awaited anti-corruption body in what appeared to be the groundwork for an assault on the assets of ousted billionaire Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Auditor-General Jaruwan Maintaka, who had promised results in some existing investigations by the end of this month, said on Monday (September 25) she had handed over her findings so far to the panel the military appointed less than a week after taking power. The new National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) included a graft-buster who led a probe of Thaksin in 2001 and eight current or retired senior civil servants, according to the army announcement. Panthep Glanarongran, former head of a royal development foundation, was appointed chair of the commission which has been empty since its last sitting members were fired en masse over a year ago for illegally awarding themselves a pay rise. One of the NCCC commissioners, Klanarong Chanthik, said one of the panel's objectives will be to reveal records of the assets and debts declared by ousted Prime Minister Thaksin and his ministers. "One of our missions is to reveal the tax account of the Prime Minister Thaksin and his ministers during the time NCCC commissioners seats were empty," he said. The coup leaders on Sunday (September 24) set up a special investigation panel to review all government projects under ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and seize personal assets if necessary. The assets of wives and children could also be seized if corruption were proven in a probe into whether Thaksin and his cabinet had abused their power "for the benefits of themselves and others", the announcement said. The panel joins an anti-corruption commission the coup leaders installed soon after taking power last week to take over the long suspended work of investigating corruption in general. Members of the new panel include top officials of the Central Bank, securities regulators, government auditors and prosecutors including Auditor-General Jaruwan Maintaka, whom Thaksin had tried to unseat unsuccessfully. The auditor-general has already speeded up existing investigations, including one into whether Thaksin's family were right to pay no tax on its $1.9 billion sale of the firm he founded. Thaksin, a former police colonel whose Shin Corp. grew into Thailand's biggest telecommunications group, has denied charges of corruption since street campaigners began throwing them at him late last year. "I want to know whether he's cheated or not or whether he's being honest. It's good (to set up probe into the former government)," Thaksin voter Kam Poodngam said. The investigations included one into allegations of corruption in the purchase of American bomb detectors for Bangkok's new airport which threatened to become a major scandal last year. From Thaksin's former government, one of the first to comment on the new corruption panel was former Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan. Speaking to reporters at the airport after returning from a trip to Europe, she said she welcomed the NCCC's probe into her wealth and pledged to cooperate with investigators.

ITN Source | September 25, 2006

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