Thaksin's assets only 'court can decide'

Only the courts of justice can release the frozen assets of the Shinawatra family, National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) member Medhi Krongkaew said yesterday.

He said both the Revenue Department and Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) would court legal trouble if the assets ordered to be frozen by the Assets Examination Committee (AEC) are released.

Medhi suggested that the SCB should wait for a court order before releasing the assets.

Anand Panyarachun, chairman of SCB's board of directors, will be calling an urgent meeting today or in the next few days to deliberate the Revenue Department's order to the bank to release Bt12 billion deposited in the names of Panthongtae and Pinthongta Shinawatra.

The Revenue Department is claiming that Panthongtae and Pinthongta, the two children of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, owe it Bt12 billion in unpaid tax from the sale of Shin Corp shares in January 2006.

SCB board chairman Anand is trying to handle this controversial matter with prudence.

The bank is caught in a legal dilemma between the order of the nowdefunct AEC to freeze the bank accounts of the Shinawatra family and that of the Revenue Department to release Bt12 billion deposited in the names of Panthongtae and Pinthongta.

The Revenue Department wants the bank to write a cheque for Bt12 billion in its favour after it won its case against Panthongtae and Pinthongta in the Tax Appeal Committee. 

Rawitta Pongnuchit, a deputy directorgeneral of the Revenue Department, threatened over the weekend to sue the bank if it fails to release the frozen money to the Revenue Department as ordered.

The Revenue Department sent the official letter to SCB on Friday in the absence of its directorgeneral, Sanit Rangnoi, who was making a trip to Japan. Sanit is also a member of the board of directors of SCB

The SCB has tried to play it safe by writing to the NCCC, the Office of the AttorneyGeneral and the Administrative Court, seeking their opinion.

One state agency - the AEC in this particular case - ordered the bank to freeze the money, while the other state agency has ordered it to unlock the money.

Yesterday, SCB issued a statement to clarify its position. It said: "The bank is ready to comply with the Revenue Department's order. However, the said two persons' accounts have been frozen under the order of the Assets Examination Committee. The bank finds it impossible to comply with both orders, which are conflicting in practice.

"Should the bank follow one order, it would be subjected to criminal offence charges on the grounds of violation of another order inevitably."

For the time being, SCB has decided to maintain the freeze on the bank accounts of Thaksin's two children until the legal problems are resolved.