Follow the cash

What actually happened?

The Supreme Court confirmed yesterday that a pastry box filled with Bt2 million in cash was left by a group of people at the court on Tuesday.

The court ordered an investigation but did not confirm reports that the box was left by a group of lawyers representing a high-profile politician facing trial in the court's political section.

What are possible motives of the alleged bribe?

A) It was intended to influence judges handling a major political case that will determine the future of politics.

B) It was meant to create mistrust against judges and even the Supreme Court itself.

C) It was designed to trigger controversy leading to

the "untouchable" judges handling the case in question being transferred off the case.

Has something like this happened before?

Yes, a former police colonel was arrested for an alleged attempt to bribe judges in the Thai Rak Thai dissolution case.

Another alleged lobbyist in the same case, a high-ranking official in the Justice Ministry, was cleared following a disciplinary inquiry.

Whose money was it?

News reports were careful not to identify the lawyers who allegedly brought the box of "desserts" to the Supreme Court on Tuesday. But yesterday, Pongthep Thepkanchana, the personal spokesman of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is facing a corruption case in he court's political section, described the scandal as a joke.

In short, Pongthep insists that Thaksin's lawyers would never have done anything that blatant and stupid.

However, most people

believe that if the money was brought to the court by lawyers of any defendant, it's unlikely that the money would belong to the lawyers themselves.

The money must belong to a client.

No lawyer in his right mind would have risked himself and his defendant's future like that.

Could it be a plot to discredit Thaksin?

Pongthep believes it's possible.

He dismisses the theory saying it's a scam aimed at changing the judges handling a particular case.

Such a plan to discredit the judges would discredit the bribers even more, so the theory doesn't make sense, he says.

If it was a bribe, what will happen?

All involved in the attempt will face legal action and a maximum penalty of seven years in jail.

Did the court do the right thing by returning the alleged "gift" to those who brought it, instead of keeping it as

"evidence"?

The alleged bribery was a strike at the heart of the highest judicial institution.

The Supreme Court will need to explain to the public why the cash, which could yield clues to its origin, was returned so promptly to those who brought it.

Who are the lawyers of the politicians standing trial in the court's political division?

Pichit Cheunban is the lawyer in the Ratchadaphisek land-deal action against ousted PM Thaksin and wife Pojaman and for former House Speaker Yongyuth Tiyapairat who faces electoral fraud charges.

Paiboon Phonoi is the lawyer for former interior minister Vatana Asavahame who is allegedly involved

in corruption in the Klong Dan wastewater-treatment project.