April 1, 2008
BANGKOK - The Assets Examination Committee (AEC) yesterday said they would ask prosecutors to file new corruption charges against ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, concerning a loan deal with Myanmar.
The AEC agreed to send the case to prosecutors, the panel's spokesman Sak Kosaengreung told AFP.
Prosecutors will then decide whether to bring the case to court. If they refuse, the AEC can bypass the attorney general's office and take the case to court itself.
The investigators claim Thaksin wrongly ordered the Exim Bank to increase a three-billion-baht (95.2-million-dollar) loan to four billion baht, so that Myanmar could buy more services from Shin Satellite (ShinSat).
ShinSat is part of the Shin Corp telecom firm which Thaksin founded.
The loan case will be brought to prosecutors within 14 days, Sak said.
Earlier in March, the army-backed investigators filed the lottery case against Thaksin after prosecutors declined to pursue it.
He also faces charges before the Supreme Court of using his political influence to win his wife a sweetheart property deal.
Thaksin returned to Thailand on Sunday after a brief trip to Europe, ahead of a securities fraud hearing by prosecutors.
Corruption was cited by the coup-makers as the key reason for Thaksin's overthrow.
Thaksin has denied all the charges against him.
