PM urged to take action if Shinawatra family are let off the hook
The vice chairman of the anti-corruption panel of the National Reform Steering Assembly urged Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha to sack director-general of the Revenue Department if the latter lets the Shinawatra family off the hook from the responsibility to pay capital gains tax over the Shin Corp’s share deal with Singapore’s Temasek Holdings back in 2006.
Mr Charnchai Issarasenarak, former Democrat MP of Nakhon Nayok and a member of the NRSA, said Thursday that the Supreme Court’s criminal division for political office holders had ruled on February 26, 2010 that the sale of the Shinawatra family’s stake in Shin Corp to Temasek Holdings through nominees in 2006 worth about 73 billion baht was subjected to capital gains tax.
The court ordered former prime minister Thaskin Shinawatra and his two siblings, Mr Panthongtae and Ms Pinthongta, to pay capital gains tax for the share transaction.
Charnchai said the court’s ruling meant that the Revenue Department could immediately demand tax payment from the Shinawatra family.
But the department has been reluctant to demand the tax payment until the statute of limitations of the case is due to expire on March 31 after which the department will lose the right to claim the tax.
The former Democrat MP said, if the Revenue Department continues to drag its feet on the case, the National Anti-Corruption Commission would ask the Anti-Money Laundering Office to sequester the Shinawatra family’s assets.
Source: Thai PBS
