Focus on Thaksin's associates

The ongoing investigation into the financial transactions of 86 individuals and companies allegedly involved in the funding of the violent red-shirt protests would focus on five groups of people with ties to ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the Anti-Money Laundering Office said yesterday.

Eight subcommittees will consist of representatives of Amlo, the National Anti-Corruption Commission, the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and the Revenue Department.

Acting Amlo secretary-general Seehanart Prayoonrat said the first panel would trace the money-transfer records of people with close ties to the fugitive ex-premier and his family members. They will be interrogated, and explanations will be sought as to how they acquired the money or to whom or for what purpose they transferred the money during the red-shirt protests.

The second panel will deal with the protest leaders and demonstrators suspected of resorting to armed violence.

The third panel will probe politicians with ties to Thaksin and the protest leaders.

The fourth panel will go after business people who have a close relationship with the ex-prime minister.

The fifth panel will investigate senior police and military officers with ties to Thaksin.

The three remaining panels will deal with money transfers and business transactions involving large amounts of money running into hundreds of millions of baht in each transaction.

DSI director-general Tharit Pengdit on Monday said the authorities would reveal all 86 names allegedly involved in the financing of the red-shirt protests.

He said the 86 would be summoned to explain their cases before the government panel.

Tharit said these people would have to report on their own to the Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation and clarify their cases directly or with the help of their lawyers.

"But they can't let others speak for them without showing up," he said.

Army chief General Anupong Paochinda is expected to sign the order this Sunday for the suspects to report themselves to the authorities for questioning.

The authorities are trying to complete investigations into the financiers or masterminds of the red-shirt protests before the government lifts the emergency decree next month. The freeze of the suspects' bank accounts has been made possible by the declaration of the emergency decree.

Those found to be linked to the financing of the red-shirt protests could face terrorism charges.

Panitan Wattanayagorn, deputy secretary-general to the PM, said the government was now also investigating money transfers outside the banking system or legitimate business transactions - a special process that he said would take longer than the probe into transactions using banking service.

"The meetings and gatherings of people involved in the protests will also be looked into," he added.

He said the compilation of evidence is being done systematically through a joint effort by many relevant agencies to carefully produce evidence that would be listened to by the judges when the cases were proceeded in court trials.

In one case, Karnjanapha Honghern, a secretary to Pojaman na Pombejra, and Ekaraj Changlao, a former teacher from Khon Kaen, allegedly withdrew Bt600 million and put the whole amount in a truck. The whereabouts of that money remain unknown.

The wives of two key Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship leaders yesterday denied that money transfers in and out of their husbands' bank accounts were spent on funding the violent protests last month.

Speaking after visiting husband Veera Musigapong at Klong Prem Prison, Srivilai Pasutanont said Veera expressed surprised about Bt10 million being transferred to his bank account during the protest after she informed him of the money detected by authorities.

"He even joked with me that if the Bt10 million were really there, he wanted me to withdraw it immediately," she added.

Thida Tojirakarn, wife of red-shirt leader Weng, said the Bt1.4 million transferred to his account was payment for the sale of a land plot many years ago.

"The buyer had already paid Bt6 million and Bt3 million in two instalments. The final payment of Bt1.4 million was made coincidentally during the protest and has become a cause for suspicion," she said.