Indictment in Shin shareholding case

Indictment in Shin shareholding case

Attorney-General Trakul Winitnaiyapak has ordered the indictment of Surin Upatkoon, the main shareholder of Kularb Kaew Co, on a charge of being a nominee of Singapore's investment arm Temasek Holdings in the telecom firm Shin Corp, later renamed Intouch Plc.

Santhanee Disayabutr, deputy spokesperson of the Office of the Attorney General, said the indictment order was issued on Jan 21. Mr Surin is alleged to have violated the Foreign Business Act that limits foreign shareholding in businesses in Thailand to 49%.

The case concerns Shin Corp the Shinawatra family of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra sold to holding companies linked to Temasek Holdings in Jan 2006. When shares of the holding companies and Kularb Kaew are combined, they exceeded 49% in Shin Corp.

Mrs Santhanee said public prosecutors would ask investigators to find Mr Surin for indictment in the Criminal Court.

The 49% Shin Corp stake sale worth over 70 billion baht by the Shinawatra family and relatives to Temasek Holdings occurred on Monday Jan 23, 2006, just after a telecommunications act had taken effect on Friday Jan 20, 2006, when Thaksin was the prime minister.

The new act increased the ceiling of foreign shareholding in a Thai telecom business from 25% to 49%.

S. Iswaran (right) then managing director of investments for Temasek Holdings, answers reporters' questions on the Shin share deal as Boonklee Plangsiri, then chief executive officer of Shin Corp, looks on at a briefing in Bangkok in Janurary 2006. (File photo by Apichart Jinakul)

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