Graft buster orders assets of ousted PM and his wife frozen
Assets Examination Committee (AEC) ruled on Monday to freeze assets of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his associates on charges of policy corruption and malfeasance.
AEC ordered the freezing of all bank accounts, issued inside and outside Thailand and at all financial institutions.
It also ordered banks that Thaksin and associates have accounts to report all money transaction of Thaksin and his wife's bank accounts, starting from 2001, the year Thaksin became prime minister.
The order came as AEC alleged that Thaksin abused his power and corrupted for the benefits of his Shin Corop in five projects which included his wife's purchase of Ratchadapisek land, purchase of rubber saplings, purchase of bomb detector machines for Suvarnnabhumi Airport, issuance of two and three-digit lotteries.
Among the allegations, the AEC believed that Thaksin and his associates allegedly corrupted when he sold his Shin Corp's stocks to Singapore government-owned Temasek Holdings, worth about Bt73.3 billion.
AEC found that Thaksin had already transferred from his bank account the money obtained from selling Shin Corp's shares to Temasek. Remaining money in his bank account has been vanished, reducing total wealth from Bt73.3 billion to Bt52.88 billion.
AEC's member, Kaewsan Atiphoti told reporters that Thaksin is required to defend the allegations within 60 days.
Kaewsan added that the ousted premier can appeal the freezing order.
The Nation
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