Lawyer Suvarn Valaisathien will today try to dispel public concerns about the Shinawatra and Damapong families’ sell-off of Shin Corp by explaining the timing of the stock transactions, the role of Ample Rich Investments Ltd, the movements of Shin Group stocks and the tax implications.

Suvarn said yesterday that he was asked by the two related families to help explain all the issues surrounding Temasek Holdings’ Bt73.2-billion takeover of Shin. He has scheduled a press conference for 11am at the Plaza Athenee Hotel in downtown Bangkok.

“I am preparing transparencies to help me do the presentation on the routes of the transactions, what was the logic behind the deal,” said Suvarn, a deputy commerce minister in the first term of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s administration.

Thaksin has come under intense pressure to clear up the share sale that netted his and his brother-in-law’s families a cool Bt73.2 billion completely tax-free. Since the deal was finally announced on January 23, Thaksin has come under a storm of criticism because the transfer of Shin Group’s ownership amounted to a hand-over of state concessions for mobile phone, satellite and a television operation to Singapore.

Questions have also been raised over Thaksin’s relationship with Ample Rich, which he set up in 1999 and disowned before assuming the premiership in 2001. But this offshore company, incorporated in the tax haven of the British Virgin Islands, resurfaced as part of the Shinawatra and Damapong families’ holdings and sold its 10.98-per-cent stake in Shin to Thaksin’s children Pinthongta and Panthongtae for Bt1 a share. The two children re-sold the shares the following trading day to nominees of Temasek for a capital gain of more than Bt15 billion.

The Securities and Exchange Commission had earlier asked Pinthongta and Panthongtae to report their relationships with Ample Rich, which they did yesterday, filing separate statements of two pages each. The contents of their filings are due to be disclosed by the SEC today.

Suvarn said he expected to get tough questions during his presentation but would stick to the facts and all the rules and regulations governing the Shin sale. He would concentrate on four key areas - major Shin stock transactions, Ample Rich, Shin Group stocks and tax matters.

“We have documents to support all the transactions,” he said.

On January 23, when the takeover was announced, Suvarn also took to the podium to speak on behalf of the two families. He is considered the country’s top tax expert and has a long relationship with the Shinawatras. In 2001, he was on the defence’s legal team when Thaksin was tried for asset concealment in the Constitution Court.

Accompanied by MPs Korn Chatikavanij and Kiat Sittheeamorn, Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva went to the SEC’s office to submit a letter calling for the SEC to maintain its independence and transparency in its investigation of the Shin deal.

Abhisit said the SEC must probe why Ample Rich sold Shin shares to Pinthongta and Panthongtae for Bt1 apiece before the two sold the shares for Bt49.25, and if the two had profited from inside information.

Thaksin maintained his silence towards the pressure building on him to detail his family’s involvement with Ample Rich. Before entering the weekly Cabinet meeting, he said only that there would be a press conference today.

Reporters noticed that when Thaksin arrived at Government House in the early morning, he looked anxious during a five-minute cellphone conversation.

Government spokesman Surapong Suebwonglee said Thaksin had told his two children to discuss unclear points with the SEC as soon as possible. The premier would not get involved in the matter, Surapong said.

All the parties in the Shin deal would hold a press conference, addressing all the suspicions about the deal, sometime this week, he said.

If some of them were found guilty of violating stock-market rules, they would be punished, even if they were the prime minister’s children, he said.

The government has urged stock-exchange authorities to clarify all the questions to the public before Saturday, when media maverick Sondhi Limthongkul plans to hold a mass rally as part of his drive to oust the government.

Thaksin was reported to have told the Cabinet meeting that the sell-off was transparent and legal.

“You all can rely on me that I have never done anything wrong,” he was quoted as saying.