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Published on September 12, 2007

Early last year, right after his family sold its 49-per-cent stake in Shin Corp to Temasek Holdings of Singapore, Thaksin Shinawatra was feeling uneasy with the surfacing of renewed suspicions and charges that he still might be the beneficial owner of Win Mark Ltd.

All along, he had been denying that he or his family had anything to do with Win Mark, a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands. He would only officially admit that he had set up just one offshore company, Ample Rich Investment Ltd, in June 1999. About 10 per cent of Shin Corp shares had been shifted to Ample Rich Invest-ment in preparation for Shin Corp's seeking of a listing on the Nasdaq.

But he transferred all of his interest in Ample Rich Invest-ment to his son Panthongtae and daughter Pinthongta before he entered politics in 2001. This was meant to comply with Thai laws requiring public office holders to disclose their assets and refrain from holding any interest in a company that had gained concessions from the state.

That was Thaksin's official version.

But the Department of Special Investigation, following months of investigation, has now concluded that Thaksin was still the beneficial owner of Win Mark, which he has failed to disclose or admit during all these years. They asserted that Win Mark is a twin brother of Ample Rich Investment, formed to help Thaksin manage his assets abroad. Both are incorporated as offshore companies and share the same address of PO Box 3151, Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands.

There has been a joke going around Bangkok that Thaksin named his offshore company Win Mark because he wanted to win over Mark, the nickname of Abhisit Vejjajiva, the leader of the Democrat Party. But some say Win Mark is the trademark of a golf product from Japan.

Only after Thaksin sold out his family's stake in Shin Corp did he admit that Ample Rich was also part of the family's assets. The 10-per-cent stake in Shin Corp had gone through complicated transactions from onshore at the outset to offshore Ample Rich before returning onshore again for final execution on the Stock Exchange of Thailand to take advantage of a tax waiver.

These Ample Rich transactions created an outcry among the Thai public because they were cleared of any tax liabilities all the way. Officials at the Revenue Department, who had allegedly switched on a green light for the transactions to become tax free, are now under investigation. This Shin Corp sale sowed the seeds of political dissent that erupted before culminating in a military coup on September 19.

What is the role of Win Mark then? Matichon newspaper has been conducting a series of investigative reports, raising doubts that Win Mark could have belonged to Thaksin and his family. But the evidence fell on the deaf ears of the authorities, particularly the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Matichon sensed that Thaksin's alleged hiding of his assets through Win Mark, which conducted dubious transactions on behalf of the Shinawatra clan, would represent Chapter II of the Assets Concealment Saga. In Chapter I, Thaksin concealed his wealth and stocks with his household maids and drivers without proper public filing as required by the Constitution and also the National Counter Corruption Commission. He was taken to the Constitution Court over this charge.

If found guilty by the Constitution Court of asset concealment, he could have been barred from politics for five years. Thaksin eventually triumphed by a narrow and very controversial margin. He let tears brim in his eyes and admitted that it was an "honest mistake". He vowed to continue his premiership to bring prosperity and happiness to the Thai people because from then on he had nothing to hide because he had washed his hands of businesses and transferred all of his financial or business interests to his children.

Korn Chatikavanij of the Democrat Party followed up on the Win Mark case right after the sale of Shin Corp. In February and March 2006 he called on the SEC several times to ask it to look into Thaksin's possible ownership in Win Mark, which held the Shin shares in an account with UBS in Singapore. Through his own investigation, Korn, a former investment banker, suspected that Win Mark, which then held around 55 million Shin shares, belonged to Thaksin and his family without any proper public disclosure.

For there had been Shin Corp stock transactions between Ample Rich and Win Mark conducted by UBS Singapore. Korn said if Ample Rich and Win Mark did not belong to the same owner, UBS Singapore would not have transacted the shares between the two.

Thirachai Bhuvanat-naranubala, secretary-general of the SEC, quite reluctantly looked into the matter and afterward came out to insist that the 55 million shares did not belong to Thaksin. He also stressed that the SEC, unlike the Department of Special Investigation or the Assets Examination Committee, did not have the legal basis to probe the case beyond its statute.

Yesterday, in a knee-jerk reaction, Thirachai vowed to continue the investigation after new evidence pointed out the possibility that the owner of Ampler Rich and Win Mark might be the same.

On Monday Kaewsan Atibhoti of the Assets Examination Committee said authorities now have evidence to believe that Thaksin had owned Ample Rich and Win Mark because their dividend payouts and other payments went into the bank accounts of the Shinawatra family.

Thaksin has insisted that his family held 49 per cent in Shin Corp by the time it sold the stake to Temasek, but the emergence of Win Mark, which also held Shin shares, showed that his family was holding more than 49 per cent.

Win Mark held 55 million Shin Corp shares in 1999. Before the sale of Shin Corp, it was found that Win Mark bought the Shin stock from the open market to build up its holdings to 113 million shares before selling the stake to Temasek and reaping a gain of Bt500 million. Authorities are investigating whether this deal involved any insider trading.

Thanong Khanthong

 The Nation