Is Pojaman seeking asylum overseas?

Education Minister Somchai
Wongsawat, brother-in-law of the former premier Thaksin Shinawatra,
said yesterday he didn't believe Thaksin and Pojaman would flee
overseas, but he said he never talked to them about their plans.

"They are Thai people so they must live in Thailand. Why do they have
to seek asylum? I am confident they will not seek asylum," said
Somchai, who is also a deputy prime minister.

Khunying
Pojaman, wife of the former PM, flew to China with her adopted brother
and secretary on Tuesday amid rumours they would seek "political
asylum" abroad.

Pojaman, Bhanapot Damapong and Kanchanapa
Honghern quietly left Thailand at 10.40am from Suvarnabhumi Airport in
Bangkok to Beijing on Tuesday.

They were seen to carry several bags with them. Some of her three children broke down in tears as they saw her off.

Reports
have been rife that they would flee abroad after the Criminal Court
sentenced the Pojaman, her brother and secretary to three years jail
after finding them guilty of seeking to avoid paying tax of Bt546
million on a share deal in the late 1990s.

The Supreme
Court's Criminal Division for Political Office-Holders has summonsed
both Thaksin and Pojaman, who are defendants in a trial over the
purchase of a prized block of land on Ratchadaphisek, to give final
testimony Monday.

So there is renewed interest over
whether the pair, particularly Pojaman, will return for the case. The
court is due to give its verdict on the Ratchada case on Sept 16.

Thaksin
has been expected to return from China on Sunday. He flew to Japan on
August 1 to give a special lecture, and was reportedly due to attend
the opening of the Olympic Games in Beijing, today.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/topstory/read.php?newsid=30080063

Pojaman released on bail

Khunying Pojaman Shinawatra and two other defendants in a tax evasion
case were released on bail after the Criminal Court found them guilty.

Pojaman,
her brother Bhanapot Damapong and Kanchanapa Honghern were released
after each post assets worth Bt5 million as guarantee.

Source: http://nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30079448

Court sentences Pojaman to three years in jail

Court said Pojaman should have served as society's good example

The Criminal Court on Thursday found wife of ousted prime
minister Thaksin Shinawatra, guilty of intentionally avoiding tax
payment of Bt546 million for the transfer of 4.5 million shares of the
Shinawatra Computer and Communications' shares worth Bt738 million.

Found guilty in the same charges were her adopted brother; Bannaphot Damapong and her secretary Pennapa Honghern.

The Court sentenced Khunying Pojaman, Bannaphot to a total of three
years in jail; two years for the charges relating to the conspiracy to
evade tax and one year for giving falsified statements. Pennapa faces
two years in jail.

The Court said the three defendants had committed serious crimes and
filed false statements with the government agencies in order to avoid
paying taxes. They intended paying taxes despite that they were rich
people.

The court ruled that the prosecution's evidence was solid and
indisputable. The three suspects were found guilty of fraud or
collaboration to evade taxes.

In addition, Pojaman and Bannapot were also found guilty of filing
false claims and presenting false evidence to the authorities with
intention to avoid paying taxes.

The court also reprimanded Pojaman in particular, saying that with
her high economic, social and political status - especially her status
as wife of the then county leader - she should have acted as good
example to society.

The Criminal Court rules out every defence
argument on the tax evasion case as insubstantial in rebutting the
prosecution evidence.

The court says the prosecution has proven beyond reasonable doubt
that the defendants committed a conspiracy to evade tax. The ruling
says Pojaman and Bhanapot made the shares transfer in the stock market
in order to avoid tax liabilities even though there was no real
transaction.

Bhanapot admits Pojaman gave shares to him and the court finds this is not a family gift.

The ruling is addressing a key legal issue whether the three
defendants intentionally gave falsified statements to the authorities
in order to avoid tax liabilities.

The charges were from from transaction, which took place in November
1997, come under the criminal codes of Article 37 (1) (2) of the
Revenue Code. Violation of this law is punishable with a fine of
between Bt2,000 and Bt200,000 and a jail sentence of between three
months and seven years. A multiple violation of this law will result in
a jail sentence of not more than 20 years.

The Office of the Attorney General filed the suit on March 26 last
year, summoning more than 30 prosecution witnesses to testify including
Sak Korsaengruang, spokesman of the nowdefunct Assets Examination
Committee who chaired the AEC panel that probed the accusation of tax
evasion, and former Finance Ministry permanent secretary and former
directorgeneral of the Revenue Department Suparat Kawutkul.

The three defendants denied the charges and almost 20 defence witnesses testified in the case.

Source: http://nationmultimedia.com/2008/07/31/headlines/headlines_30079445.php

Court found Pojaman guilty of tax evasion

10.45am : Pojaman and her family
leave the court house. Former premier Thaksin and his children looked
serious while his wife smiles.

10.47am :
The Criminal Court on Thursday found Khunying Pojaman Shinawatra guilty
of intentionally avoiding a tax payment of Bt546 million for the
transfer of 4.5 million shares of the Shinawatra Computer and
Communications' shares worth Bt738 million.

Also found guilty in the historic trial are Pojaman's adopted
brother Bannaphot Damapong and her personal secretary Kanchana Honghern.

The court sentenced Pojaman and Bannaphot each to 3 years in jai.

10.20am : The court judges are still reading the verdict. All Shnawatra family appear to look tense.

9.10am : Criminal Court judges start reading the verdict.

8.40am : Khunying Pojaman Shinawatra arrives at the
Criminal Court. She is accompanied by her husband; former prime
minister Thaksin, and her children.

They are greeted by cheering crowds.

8.30am : Separate groups of people arrive at the Criminal Court as the Court is scheduled to start delivering verdict on 9.30am.

Some 200 police are on duty to provide security. Those who wanted to enter the court house have to pass metal detectors.

10 am: The court is still reading the historic verdict. Thaksin and his children look extremely tense and worried.

Source: http://nationmultimedia.com/2008/07/31/headlines/headlines_30079437.php

Big boss may override reshuffle

It is true that money and the bargaining power of political factions always influence the allocation of ministerial posts.

This is also bound to apply to the upcoming reshuffle of the Sundaravej government.

Prime
Minister Samak said he would reshuffle his Cabinet at the end of the
month after the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office
Holders rules on whether to accept the case concerning irregularities
in the two- and three-digit lotteries scheme, submitted by the Assets
Examination Committee on July 28.

If the case is accepted,
three ministers - Surapong Suebwonglee, Uraiwan Thienthong and Anurak
Jureemas - may have to be suspended. However, should this be the case,
the ministers plan to seek a Constitution Court ruling on whether they
have to be suspended.

The reshuffle could create some
chaos. No one wants to be ousted or shifted from their posts,
especially those ministers who are also leaders of factions.

Interior
Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung, who may move to the Justice or Public
Health posts, has tried to forge an alliance with Northeast MPs,
excluding Newin Chidchob's faction. Bangkok MP Sudarat Keyuraphan's
faction is another Chalerm target.

Chalerm has
reportedly told Samak that if he is removed from the Interior
portfolio, he will only accept the post of justice minister.

Newin
reportedly did not want to lose any of his four ministerial seats,
filled by Deputy Education Minister Pongsakorn Annopporn, Deputy
Agriculture Minister Theerachai Saenkaew, Deputy Transport Minister
Songsak Thongsri and Deputy Interior Minister Supon Fongngam.

All
eyes are on Samak, as he vowed he would reshuffle his Cabinet a second
time to improve the government's image. He said he would appoint
outsiders to some posts, regardless of faction quotas.

Does Samak have the power to do that?

In
fact, since Samak became prime minister the real power of the People
Power Party (PPP) and the government appears to be in the hands of "the
big boss", the real owner of the party.

Also, as long as
money still feeds party members, financiers and leaders of the factions
will continue to play a vital role in appointing Cabinet members.

"If
Samak really cuts the quota from the financiers and the factions, who
will take care of party MPs?" a source from the PPP said.

He
said the parties had asked their ministers to allocate the
responsibility of overseeing party MPs in order to avoid a
concentration of MPs under any particular party.

The source said the big boss would be the one who has the final say in this reshuffle.

"At most, Samak can only float his idea through the media. Every decision will depend on the big boss," he said.

For these reasons, perhaps Samak will have to eat his words again.

Source: http://nationmultimedia.com/2008/07/23/politics/politics_30078751.php

Cabinet reshuffle on tract: Samak

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej on
Wednesday confirmed that the Cabinet line-up would be submitted for
royal endorsement regardless of the departure of Puea Pandin Party
leader Suwit Khunkitti.

Samak did not go into the details of the new line-up. He earlier
said the list of the Cabinet appointments would be forwarded to the
Royal Palace this morning and the announcement would be made in a few
days.

Earlier the day, Samak appeared at a loss for word by
saying he could not comment at this juncture on why Puea Pandin Party
leader Suwit Khunkitti abruptly withdrew from the coalition alliance on
Tuesday's evening.

Samak refused to confirm or deny that he was about to remove Suwit
from the Cabinet line-up and that he allocated only one ministerial
seat under the Puea Pandin quota.

Source: http://nationmultimedia.com/2008/07/30/politics/politics_30079358.php