Ex-Thai prime minister’s son charged with money laundering

BANGKOK: The only son of fugitive former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been formally charged with money laundering, the Department of Special Investigations (DSI) said yesterday.

Panthongtae Shinawatra is accused of receiving a 10-millionbaht (RM1.2 million) cheque in 2004 related to an earlier corruption case involving 9.9 billion baht of fraudulent loans extended by the state-owned Krungthai Bank, when his father was prime minister.

DSI deputy spokesman, Woranan Srilum, said Panthongtae had turned himself in on Tuesday, but had been released as no arrest warrant for him had been issued.

Panthongtae could now gather evidence for his case, Woranan said, while DSI must decide whether to take the case to the criminal court.

Panthongtae was not available for comment. He complained this month of victimisation and called for the dropping of the moneylaundering investigation.

His lawyer declined to comment when contacted.

Supporters of the Shinawatras said the legal action was the latest bid by authorities in juntaruled Thailand to squeeze the Shinawatra family out of politics and blunt its influence.

Beginning in the late 1980s, former policeman Thaksin built a telecommunications conglomerate that made him one of Thailand’s richest and most powerful men.

But he made powerful enemies, especially in the Bangkok-based establishment, which saw him and his populist ways as a threat.

Ousted in a 2006 coup, and later convicted of corruption, which he denied, Thaksin had overseen, from self-exile, victory for his party in every election since, most recently in 2011, when his sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, became prime minister. Reuters