The Bt73.2 billion deal with Singapore’s Temasek Holdings has put Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his family under increasing scrutiny and prompted heated demands for straightforward answers.

- Why did Thaksin set up Ample Rich Investments Ltd in the British Virgin Islands, a tax haven, in the first place? This is a very unusual thing to do. Generally, when people establish secretive shell companies in the British Virgin Islands they are looking to avoid the eyes and ears of regulators or the public at home. Securities and Exchange Commission documents show that Thaksin established Ample Rich on April 12, 1999.

- How much money did Thaksin take out of the country to set up Ample Rich? Did he report this offshore investment properly to banking authorities? Bank of Thailand governor Pridiyathorn Devakula said individuals investing less than US$10 million in an offshore company do not need to seek prior approval from banking authorities.

- On June 11, 1999, Thaksin sold half of his holdings in Shin Corp, or 32.92 million shares (11.875 per cent), to Ample Rich, which he owned 100 per cent of. Thaksin kept his other half (11.875 per cent) of Shin in his Thai portfolio. Why did he do this? Was there any evidence of the transaction? Did he receive any money for it? Boonklee Plangsiri, the chief executive of Shin Corp, said Ample Rich was set up to help Shin raise capital in the United States. But its activities are shrouded in mystery.

- The SEC found that Thaksin owned Ample Rich until November 30, 2000. This was the same time the local media was reporting about his alleged attempts to conceal his assets. Thaksin indicated that he had sold Ample Rich. The SEC did not probe the matter further. When did Thaksin sell Ample Rich? The sale must have taken place between June 1999 and November 2000. Who, then, bought Ample Rich from Thaksin? And who bought the 32.92 million Shin shares from Thaksin? Did Thaksin receive any money from the sales of Ample Rich and Shin stock.

- Thaksin’s Thai Rak Thai Party won the general election on January 6, 2001 and formed the government. Thaksin’s declaration of assets to the National Counter Corruption Commission in April 2001 did not mention Ample Rich. The declaration is required by the Constitution. There was no evidence either that Ample Rich belonged to anybody in the Shinawatra family, including Thaksin’s wife Khunying Pojaman or daughters Pinthongta and Paethongtharn. Their elder brother, Panthongtae, did not need to declare his assets because he had come of age.

- Throughout these years Ample Rich still appeared to be owned by the Shinawatra family. As of August 26 last year, Shin Corp’s website reported that the Shinawatra and Damapong families held a combined 1,487,740,120 shares of Shin, or 49.61 per cent of the total. The families included Ample Rich as their nominee firm, which held 329,200,000 shares, or 10.98 per cent, of the firm. Thaksin said he had sold out of Ample Rich, but then why does Ample Rich still appear listed as part of the family’s assets?

- Last month the Shinawatra and Damapong families agreed to sell their 49.61 per cent stake in Shin for Bt73.2 billion to Temasek in Thailand’s largest take-over deal ever. The first transaction took place on January 20, when Ample Rich unloaded all of its Shin stock by selling 164.6 million shares to Pinthongta and another 164.6 million shares to Panthongtae at Bt1 apiece. Did Ample Rich need to pay tax?

- On January 23, Pinthongta and Panthongtae sold the stocks to nominees of Temasek for Bt49.25 a share, turning a profit of Bt15 billion on their dealings with Ample Rich alone. They did not have to pay tax. They bought the stocks from Ample Rich on the over-the-counter market and resold the stocks on the stock exchange to enjoy exemption from capital gains tax. What are the tax implications of this whole deal?

- First, Pinthongta and Panthongtae reported to the SEC on January 23 that they had bought Shin stocks from Ample Rich through the stock exchange. Later they claimed it was a technical error, and they re-notified the transaction as an over-the-counter deal. Second, they claimed that they already held the Shin stocks via Ample Rich. So when did the two buy the Shin stocks and park it at Ample Rich? From whom and at what price did they buy the Shin stocks? Did they get the stocks from their father or from a third party?

- On January 30, the SEC ordered Pinthongta and Panthongtae to clarify their relationship with Ample Rich. Apparently, they had never reported that they held a combined 10.98 per cent of Shin Corp’s stock via Ample Rich. If this is the case, they have violated disclosure rules, which require a party to report an accumulation of stock in a listed firm that amounts to 5 per cent or more of its share capital. Will they be fined for this violation? Did they also violate insider-trading laws? Or did they violate the take-over code? They, as one group, had accumulated Shin stock amounting to more than 25 per cent of the total, a trigger point requiring them to make a 100 per cent tender offer.