The funds to be used in former premier Thak-sin Shinawatra's take-over bid for Manches-ter City Football Club have been "legitimately and transparently transferred" to the United Kingdom, his financial adviser says.

"The money to buy Man City is clean," Keith Harris, chairman of investment bank Seymour Pierce, told BBC Radio Five's "Sportsweek" programme.

"It has been legitimately and transparently transferred to the UK. A number of his bank accounts have been frozen. Some of them are personal and some corporate. But the money used to finance the takeover and used to invest in the club is in bank accounts in England and beyond their [the Thai government's] reach," Harris said.

He said it could take up to 21 days for Thaksin to assume full control of Manchester City FC. "The takeover could be completed three days after that, or as long as 21 days after that," said Harris, who acts as the intermediary in the takeover bid.

The Bank of Thailand said yesterday that Thaksin's family had never made a formal request to transfer money out of the country to buy the English football club.

Suchart Sakkankosol, a central-bank director, said that over the past three years, the Shinawatras had asked to transfer money out of Thailand twice - most recently Bt400 million to buy a house in London and a smaller amount earlier to buy an apartment there for Thaksin's daughter Pinthongta.

He said that due to its regulations, the central bank did not have information about money transfers older than three years.

The Assets Examination Committee yesterday said it would not try to trace the money to be used in Thaksin's £81.6-million (Bt5.71 billion) takeover of Manchester City FC because this was beyond their mandate.

In a related development, the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) insisted yesterday that Thaksin and his wife Pojaman turn up by Friday to hear the formal charge of asset concealment involving SC Asset, a property firm originally owned by the Shinawatra family, or face arrest warrants and extradition proceedings.

DSI director-general Sunai Manomai-udom said Thaksin could not escape the assets concealment charge, as it was a criminal, not a political, charge.

"After the deadline, the suspects are not allowed to postpone hearing the charges. The DSI will then regard them as having intentionally escaped and they will face arrest warrants," he said.

Sunai said none of the accused had notified the DSI about when they would turn up, but lawyers from SC Asset confirmed they had received the summons.

The four accused parties - Thaksin, Pojaman, Busaba Damapong, the wife of Pojaman's step-brother Bhanapot, and SC Asset - must turn up to be officially informed of the charges.

Noppadon Pattama, the Shinawatra family's legal adviser, has said that the former PM would return to Thailand in December.

Asked if it was possible to put the case off until then, Sunai said the DSI would not wait that long because it had to wrap up the investigation and indict the accused.

"We cannot give privileges to anyone. If Thaksin does not meet the investigators, he will face the negative consequences because we will indict him anyway. If he does not surrender, we will ask for extradition," he said.

Sunai admitted that it would be difficult to seek extradition if Thaksin stayed in the United Kingdom because he could claim he was being politically harassed.

"But this case is not a political case and the DSI is not an agency established by the Council for National Security," he said, referring to the junta that deposed Thaksin.

Speaking about Thaksin's purchase of Manchester City FC, Sunai ownership of the club must "belong to the country" if it was proved that money used in the deal gained by corruption.

However, it may not be easy to extradite the former PM if, as CNS chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin has speculated, Thaksin goes to live in countries that do not have an extradition treaty with Thailand, such as Hong Kong.