Thaksin's wife gets 3-year jail time over tax evasion

A THAI court sentenced the wife of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a major force in his political and business empire, to three years in jail yesterday after finding her guilty of tax fraud.

Potjaman Shinawatra, or "The Mistress", as she is often known, stood emotionless as the verdict was delivered at the end of the first of a slew of legal cases against Thaksin's inner circle stemming from graft probes launched after a 2006 coup.

Thaksin himself, in court with the couple's three adult children, appeared to be fighting back tears as his 51-year-old wife walked over to pat him on the back seconds after the ruling.

"The second defendant was not only supposed to behave herself as a good citizen, she was also meant to be a good role model as the wife of the prime minister," the judge said in the televised ruling.

Potjaman, her brother Bannapot Damapong and her secretary were charged with colluding to evade tax worth 546 million baht ($23.63 million) in the transfer in 1997 of shares in Shin Corp, the telecoms firm Thaksin founded.

They had argued that the shares were a wedding gift for Bannapot and therefore tax exempt, a theory that cut little ice with judges who deemed the crime "severe".

The trio were freed on bail of five million baht each, and a family spokesman said they would appeal.

Around 1,000 Thaksin supporters massed outside the courtroom carrying roses and banners, although they were prevented from getting too close by 300 riot police. There was no trouble.

Although widely expected, the verdict is a blow to Thaksin in his fight to clear his name and return to mainstream political life after his removal in 2006 by the military on the pretext of "rampant corruption".

Army-appointed graft investigators have filed several cases, and the verdict is a sign of the legal tide turning against the telecoms billionaire, whose sway over the current government, packed with his close aides and associates, is not in doubt.

It also intensified speculation he is trying to cut a deal with prosecutors and his opponents in the military and royalist establishment to accept a period of exile rather than jail.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court said it would hear a case over allegations he arranged soft loans to military-ruled Myanmar while in office to benefit his family's telecoms business.

Two days earlier, the same court agreed to investigate his entire cabinet, including three ministers in the current administration, for allegedly breaking gambling laws in a push to launch a state lottery in 2003.

Thaksin and Potjaman have also been charged with abuse of power over her purchase of a prime piece of Bangkok real estate from a government agency during his time in office, despite laws against relatives of political leaders striking such deals.

The slew of cases have added to the worries about political stability that have caused the stock market to fall 22 per cent since the end of May, when Thaksin's enemies kicked off a street campaign to oust the current, elected government. Most of the concerns centre on the government's preoccupation with fighting off political attacks rather than concentrating on the economy.

Reuters