by Thanaporn Promyamyai, January 8, 2008
- Thaksin Shinawatra’s wife returned Tuesday to Bangkok and was immediately taken to the Supreme Court to hear corruption charges against her.
Khunying Pojaman Shinawatra, 51, appeared before the court for less than one hour to hear the charges accusing her of using her husband's influence to buy prime Bangkok real estate at one-third its estimated value, according to AFP.
The judges released her on bail of five million baht (149,000 dollars) and ordered her not to leave the country again.
She had spent the last six months with her husband overseas where she successfully avoided arrest warrants over the corruption cases.
Thaksin has lived in self-imposed exile since a bloodless coup in September 2006, but says he plans to return to Thailand by April once a new government is formed.
After leaving the court with her three children, Pojaman headed to the Department of Special Investigations (DSI) to hear additional charges that she made fraudulent filings to securities regulators in 2003, her lawyer Noppadon Pattama said.
"She came here today to prove her innocence," he told reporters outside the court.
Pojaman earlier arrived in Bangkok on a Thai Airways flight from Hong Kong, and was immediately escorted by police to the court.
She smiled slightly as she entered and left the court, dressed in a black suit with dark sunglasses and waving to a handful of supporters on the sidewalk.
Her three children accompanied her at the hearing, and bail was posted by her youngest daughter Paetongtarn, a university student in Bangkok.
Thaksin has also been charged in both the property and the securities cases. Both he and Pojaman have denied any wrongdoing.
Pojaman, her step-brother Banpot Damapong and her personal secretary Kanchanapa Honghern also face additional criminal charges of tax evasion.
Conviction on any of the charges could result in prison sentences.
Pojaman rarely speaks in public, but is widely seen as an important partner in Thaksin's vast political and business interests, and is a trusted trouble-shooter when things go wrong.
While Thaksin has stayed abroad since the coup, Pojaman has shuttled in and out of the country, managing his affairs here and then travelling to meet him as he travels the world.
The first hearing will take place on January 23.
