Thaksin, wife to face Thai criminal graft charges

Bangkok, May 4: A Thai probe panel will recommend ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife face criminal corruption charges on a land deal which could put them in jail for 10 years, an investigator said today.

The recommendation would be put on May 14 to the Asset Examination Committee set up by the generals who ousted Thaksin in a bloodless September coup, said Udom Fuangfung, head of the probe panel.

''They have broken the counter corruption law, which bans holders of political office from striking business deals with government agencies. It is a conflict of interest,'' Udom told Reuters. ''Under the criminal law, he has also abused his power''.

Thaksin, a policeman turned telecommunications billionaire who made a preliminary offer to buy English Premier League soccer club Manchester City this week, denies corruption charges levied by the generals as a prime reason for ousting him.

His lawyer says Thaksin is keen to defend himself in court if prosecutors decide to charge him and his wife Potjaman in the land deal Udom's panel said was corrupt.

Potjaman bought a prime piece of property in Bangkok sold by the central bank at an auction in which other bidders pulled out and Udom's panel decided that Thaksin's influence was behind her successful purchase.

If Thaksin and Potjaman were found guilty, the (24 million dollar) plot would be confiscated.

Potjaman, her brother and her secretary amy also face criminal tax evasion charges recommended by the probe committee.

They could be jailed for 14 years if found guilty, but a three-tier court system means they will have years to fight their cases before a final verdict is reached.

Single Court

But for the land deal case, Udom said he would recommend prosecutors charge the Shinawatras in the Supreme Court's Political Appointees Section, which meant the case would be confined to a single court.

Thaksin, despite frequent and generally disbelieved protestations that he is out of politics and has no desire to return to power, is fighting back by keeping himself in the public eye from his exile, analysts say.

Not only did he make a preliminary offer for Manchester City, he was also elected unanimously as president of the Thai Professional Golfers Association this week after potential opponents stood down.

Thaksin, the man the military is determined to drive out of politics by proving their allegations of rampant corruption against him, has picked two of the most influential sports in Thailand to keep him in the media limelight, analysts said.

A poll by Bangkok's Assumption University last month suggested no one should underestimate Thaksin, twice elected in a landslide on the back of support in the countryside where most of Thailand's 65 million people live.

Thaksin was the most ''outstanding prime minister who promptly and actively tackled the people's problems'', it said.

He had 50 percent support from 2,700 respondents in Bangkok.

Surayud Chulanont, the affable former army chief installed as prime minister by the military after the coup, got 1.4 per cent, it said.

Support for his interim government to stay until after general elections Surayud has promised for December was down to down to half from three quarters, the poll said.

Reuters>