Even though the sale of the company was a private deal, Thaksin should be held accountable for any legal improprieties because of his dual position as both prime minister and the Shinawatra business empire’s nominal head, the Democrat leader stressed.

He added that the main opposition party would conclude its own investigation into the sale of Shin Corp within a month. The party’s probe will first zero in on suspicious circumstances surrounding the transaction just three days before the takeover of the company by Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, an investment branch of the Singapore government.

During the suspect transaction, Ample Rich, an offshore investment company located in the British Virgin Islands, sold its 10.97 per cent of Shin equity stakes back to two of Thaksin’s children, Panthongtae and Pinthongta, at Bt1 per share.

A few days later Panthongtae and Pinthongta sold their shares to Temasek at Bt49 per share.

“The Democrat Party will investigate the reason behind the transaction between Ample Rich and Thaksin’s two children,” the party leader noted.

He added that the Revenue Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission owed it to the Thai public to spell out the enforcement of tax laws and stock-market regulations pertaining to the Shinawatra family’s sale of their empire’s flagship business.

The transaction involving Ample Rich has raised several unanswered questions and may set a dangerous precedent for other investors trying to avoid paying taxes and circumventing stock market regulations through the manipulation of loopholes, Abhisit said.

“Many people are puzzled by the tax-collection standards of the Revenue Department, as average citizens are required to pay taxes while a huge tax liability is granted special exemption,” he said.

Democrat MP Korn Chatikavanij has been appointed by the party to lead the team investigating the sale of Shin shares.

“I will try to see if the prime minister has used his position to secure lenient treatment for his family as well as pledge future favours in order to induce Temasek into signing the deal,” Korn said. He added that Thaksin himself had conceded that it had not been easy to find a buyer willing to pay Bt70 billion for Shin Corp.

Korn said he was particularly interested in monitoring events as they had unfolded with regard to Temasek’s Singapore Telecommunication and Shin’s Advanced Information Service. He was referring to the licensing review for 3G mobile services.

Precedents have indicated that Thaksin might be willing to bend the law to benefit his family, he said.

A case in point was the law on foreign ownership, which was amended after Thaksin came to power to reduce the legal cap on foreign ownership in Thai companies to 25 per cent of equity stakes from 49 per cent, he said, which derailed a business plan of DTAC, a rival mobile-phone operator.

Yet three days before the Temasek deal, a revised law came into effect capping foreign ownership back at 49 per cent, he noted.

Korn said he would also look into possible stock-market violations stemming from a precursor deal with Ample Rich.

Regarding Temasek’s plans for Shin’s subsidiaries, including iTV and Shin Satellite, he said he would closely monitor the situation.

“I understand Temasek is not keen on the subsidiary companies. It is a matter of wait-and-see what Singapore will do with the Thai communication satellites and the television station,” he said.

Thai Rak Thai deputy spokesman Sutin Klungsang yesterday urged the public not to “jump to conclusions” about the Ample Rich allegations against Thaksin, which he described as “attempts to smear” the prime minister.

“I’m not convinced by the allegations. The prime minister has always acted straightforwardly,” said Sutin.

Thaksin yesterday evaded questions from Government House reporters about the Shin share sell-off and instead wished them for the lunar new year in Chinese.