AEC found enough evidence of asset-concealment

An AEC subcommittee spent more than eight months searching for all the evidence to explain why it was believed that the names shown as shareholders of Shin Corp, in fact, held the shares on behalf of Thaksin. This was the testimony given by prosecution witness Kaewsan Atibodhi to the Supreme Court recently, the source said.

The AEC investigation focused on three aspects of the case:

l Using other persons as nominees

l Using companies as nominees

l Analysing payments for Shin shares after the sale to Temasek

In January 2006, 48.49 per cent of Shin's shares were sold to Singapore-based Temasek Holdings, of which 46.87 per cent belonged to Thaksin and Pojaman and the remaining 1.62 per cent belonged to Bhanapot Damapong, a brother of Pojaman. The total transaction was valued at Bt69 billion.

Thaksin and Pojaman Damapong (formerly Shinawatra) started to conceal their shareholding in Shin Corp - a combined 46.87 per cent - in 1999 by transferring 36.43 per cent to other persons and 10.44 per cent to Ample Rich over the period 2001-2006.

The first group comprised Yingluck, a younger sister of Thaksin and chairman of SC Asset Corp, with 0.68 per cent, Panthongtae, the eldest child, with 24.99 per cent, and Bhanapot with 10.75 per cent.

A few years later, Panthongtae unloaded 14.99 per cent of his Shin shares on Pinthongta, cutting his stake in Shin to 10 per cent. This was because Panthongtae's shareholding in Shin was near the trigger point of 25 per cent for making a tender offer as required by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules.

Another reason was that Panthongtae at that time was cited as owning Ample Rich when Thaksin was suspected as being an owner of Ample Rich.

Ample Rich was established in the British Virgin Islands with a registered capital of US$50,000, but paid-up capital of $1. Thaksin revealed later he was an owner of Ample Rich before selling the shares to his son Panthongtae in 2000.

Panthongtae, who was cited as holding 100 per cent of Ample Rich in 2000, then sold 20 per cent to Pinthongta in 2003.

In this case, the AEC considered that Thaksin had actually owned 100 per cent of Ample Rich since 2000. At that time he was the prime minister, so he had no choice but use his son as an owner of Ample Rich. Panthongtae, as a result, was fined Bt6 million in 2006 for not reporting his shareholding in Shin via Ample Rich to the SEC.

All the transactions were similar in that there were no real payments for shares sold by Panthongtae, Pinthongta, Bhanapot and Yingluck to Pojaman. The transactions were made at a cost basis of par value in a bid to avoid income taxes.

All the dividends paid out by Shin to those people were transferred to Pojaman's bank accounts. Following this process, there was a person who managed these transactions for Pojaman.

The exception was the 1.62-per-cent stake in 1997, which the AEC believed really belonged to Bhanapot.