Thai state prosecutors formally charged ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra with "official misconduct" on Thursday relating to his wife's purchase of a prime piece of Bangkok real estate, a court official said.
The move came on the same day Manchester City said the English Premier League soccer club was backing an 81.6 million pound ($162.6 million) take-over bid led by Thaksin. The prosecutors' filing at the Supreme Court is the first formal legal action taken against Thaksin since he was ousted in a September coup by generals accusing him of running a corrupt government.
A panel of nine judges is expected to rule on July 10 whether to proceed with the charges, summarised as "misconduct of a government official and violation of a ban on state officials being party to transactions involving public interests".
Thaksin, who has been exile in London since the coup, would have to appear to answer the charges if the court decided to try the case, court official Seksan Bangsomboon told reporters.
If convicted, Thaksin could face up to 10 years in jail and a 60,000 baht fine, he added. The charges stem from a ruling by an Asset Examination Committee (AEC) set up after the coup that Thaksin and his wife, Pojaman, broke anti-graft laws preventing politicians in office doing business deals with state agencies. Thaksin and his wife have denied the charges.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.