The question now is when, and from whom, they bought the Shin stocks and parked them at Ample Rich.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has demanded answers, and the two children of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will have to reply within seven days.

Before January 20, Pinthongta held 440 million shares of Shin Corp and Panthongtae, 293,950,220 shares. However, on that day, they each bought 164.6 million shares from Ample Rich, so that three days later, on January 23, Pinthongta sold 604.6 million shares and Panthongtae, 458,550,220 shares, to Temasek Holdings for Bt49.25 a share, as part of the Bt73.2 billion takeover of Shin Corp.

The two bought the stocks from Ample Rich for Bt1 a share, raising suspicions that Ample Rich must belong to somebody in the Shinawatra or Damapong families. The widely asked question was why Ample Rich should sell its 329.2 million Shin Corp shares to Pinthongta and Panthongtae at Bt1 apiece.

Now Pinthongta and Panthongtae have claimed that it was they who owned the 329.2 million shares of Shin Corp, via Ample Rich.

This implies that the trans

actions between the two and Ample Rich on January 20

represented no more than a transfer of stock portfolios from one account to others owned by people in the same group. This is the impression that the Shinawatra and Damapong families would like to make.

Since the mystery of Ample Rich resurfaced over the past week, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has not revealed the real owner of this company. Together with members of the Shinawatra and Damapong families, Ample Rich was identified as one of the beneficial owners of a combined 1,487,740,120 shares, or 49.61 per cent of Shin Corp, earmarked for sale to Temasek Holdings as one single lot.

Thaksin set up Ample Rich on April 12, 1999, in the British Virgin Islands under dubious circumstances. On June 11, 1999, Thaksin reduced his stake in Shin Corp from 23.75 per cent to 11.88 per cent. The balance of 11.87 per cent was transferred to Ample Rich. At the time, Shin Corp chief executive Boonklee Plangsiri told the SEC that the stock transfer was part of Shin Corp’s preparation for listing in the United States.

According to yesterday’s Matichon newspaper, the SEC found out that, as of November 30, 2000, Thaksin no longer owned Ample Rich. Thaksin said he had sold out Ample Rich, but did not identify the buyer. The SEC did not probe further. This was the time when the local media were investigating whether he had attempted to conceal his assets.

Thaksin’s declaration of his assets with the National Counter Corruption Commission, as required by the Constitution, has never included Ample Rich.

However, over all these years, it appears that Ample Rich has remained under the ownership of somebody within the Shinawatra and Damapong families. On Shin Corp’s website, as of August 26, 2005, the two families were clearly reported to own 1,487,740,120 shares, or 49.61 per cent, of Shin Corp. The breakdown of this ownership structure was as follows: Pinthongta, 440,000,000 shares (14.67 per cent); Bhanapot Damapong, 404,430,300 shares (13.49 per cent); UBS AG, Singapore Branch for the account of Ample Rich Investments Ltd, 329,200,000 shares (10.98 per cent); Panthongtae, 293,950,220 shares (9.80 per cent); Yingluck Shinawatra, 20 million (0.67 per cent); Busaba Damapong, 159,600 shares (0.01 per cent).

According to Kobsak Sabhavasu of the Democrat Party, about six months ago, Ample Rich assigned UBS AG of Singapore to be custodian of its Shin Corp stocks. Before that they were held directly by Ample Rich.

The known facts of the situation beg a series of interesting questions, the answers to which must be high on the SEC’s most wanted list:

When, and from whom did Pinthongta and Panthongtae buy the Shin stocks owned by Ample Rich and keep them at the firm? They had never previously reported their holdings in Ample Rich.

How could the two make the offshore transactions, since Ample Rich was holding the Shin stocks from Singapore?

Did Pinthongta and Panthongtae, again, acquire the Shin stocks via Ample Rich as a gift from their father?

If they owned the Shin stocks held by Ample Rich before Temasek’s takeover, why did they fail to report their holding to the SEC? [SEC law requires individuals or companies to report their holdings for every accumulation of 5 per cent of a listed company, a violation of which is punishable by law.]

Would Pinthongta and Panthongtae’s acquisition of a combined 10.98 per cent stake of Shin Corp from Ample Rich trigger a mandatory 100-per-cent tender offer by them for all Shin stocks, since they had built up their stake to 35.45 per cent, beyond the 25-per-cent trigger point?

What were the motives behind Ample Rich’s sale of the Shin stocks to Pinthongta and Panthongtae at Bt1 per share?

None of these questions is easy to answer, because all of them carry the heavy implication of assets concealment.