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Thai prosecutors pressed tax evasion charges on Monday against the wife of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and her brother in a case which threatens to utterly wreck any chance of a political comeback for the ousted billionaire.

A not guilty verdict against Potjaman Shinawatra, her brother and her secretary would seriously weaken the stance of the military leaders who staged a bloodless September coup accusing the former PM of engaging in endemic corruption.

"If they are found guilty, even by the first-level court, the public will believe this family conspired to evade tax and this political harpoon will end Thaksin's political career," political commentator Sukhum Nualskul said. "But if they are ruled not guilty, the legitimacy of the coup leaders and their graft investigators will be in jeopardy."

The three, who have been released on bail, were charged in court with the first trial of a potential dozen overseeing corruption during Thaksin's tenure set to begin on May 14, Potjaman's lawyer said.

Arriving at Bangkok's Criminal Court in a dark blue luxury car, Potjaman pressed through a throng of journalists as 100 policemen stood close by.

She and her brother could be condemned to up to 14 years in jail over share transfers in Shin Corp., a firm founded by Thaksin. This was the first case chosen by investigators chosen to oversee the scandal by coup leaders six months ago.

This case carries a sentence ranging from three months to seven years and fines of between 2,000 baht (US$57) and 200,000 baht (US$5,700), but Potjaman and her brother face two counts of the same crime, thus doubling the penalty, prosecutors said.

The new government has come under fire for its slowness in uncovering the truth in the corruption allegations that its military backers used to bring down Thaksin, and this sluggish attitude has hit it hard in opinion polls.

More to come?

In November, graft investigators ordered the Revenue Department to claim almost US$15 million in taxes from Potjaman's brother Bannapot originating from 4.5 million shares he bought from a Shinawatra maid with money given to him by Potjaman in 1997.

The deal, claimed to have been tax-free at the time since it was a special gift from Potjaman to her brother, who was then chairman of what is now Shin Corp, has now been ruled to have been liable for tax. The transaction, and the shady dealings that surrounded it, are now subject to criminal prosecutions and may not be the last to find itself similarly mired.

Thaksin's family sold its controlling stake in Shin Corp, a telecommunications giant originally founded as a computer supplier, to Singapore state investment firm Temasek for US$1.9 billion in January 2006.

The deal, which saw pay Temasek US$3.8 billion in all, was also deemed tax-free at the time due to being a stock market transaction.

However, the same graft panel, empowered to freeze assets, is investigating whether any of the complex share transactions that accompanied final deal may have been illegal. The panel has also leveled accusations at Potjaman for buying a prime piece of Bangkok real estate from the central bank at a too low price.

It was concluded that Thaksin and his wife had broken laws which ban spouses of cabinet ministers from business deals with state agencies and they both face up to 10 years in jail and confiscation of the land if found guilty.

(China Daily via agencies March 27, 2007)