Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's son Panthongtae was arraigned in court on Wednesday, charged with money-laundering in the Krungthai Bank loan case, and released on bail.
Mr Panthongtae, 38, first reported to the Office of the Attorney-General on Wednesday morning to hear the indictment. He was accompanied by his younger sisters Pinthongta and Praethongtan and many key members of the Pheu Thai Party, who showed up to give him moral support.
He was later arraigned in the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases, which allowed bail with a surety of one million baht on condition that he not leave the country without prior permission.
He was told he would have to enter a plea on Nov 5.
The Department of Special Investigation earlier recommended the attorney-general prosecute Mr Panthongtae, Kanchanapa Honghern (secretary to Mr Panthongtae's mother Khunying Pojaman na Pombejra), and her husband Wanchai Honghern.
Mr Panthongtae and the two others are accused of laundering money that state-owned Krungthai Bank lent to subsidiaries of property developer Krisdamahanakorn in 2003 and 2004, when his father Thaksin was prime minister, even though the company was a non-performing debtor.
They allegedly received cheques of 10 million baht and 26 million baht tied to the unsecured Krungthai Bank loans.
A spokesman for the attorney-general confirmed Mr Panthongtae was indicted on charges of conspiracy and collusion in money-laundering, relating to the 10-million-baht cheque.
Ms Kanchanapa and Mr Wanchai would be indicted on the same charges, relating to the 26-million-baht cheque. Money-laundering carries a jail term of 1-10 years and has a 10-year statute of limitations, the spokesman said.
Ms Kanchanapa and Mr Wanchai were absent on Wednesday and public prosecutors called on them to show up on Oct 18.
Krungthai Bank lent 9.9 billion baht to subsidiaries of Krisdamahanakorn to refinance loans and for project development.
Krisdamahanakorn was at the time in Krungthai's non-performing loans group, a category that banks should not lend to under Bangkok of Thailand regulations.
Bank executives were found to have approved the loan because a "big boss" said there would be no problem. The court, however, decided there was not enough evidence to establish who the "big boss" was.
In 2015, the Supreme Court for politicians sentenced 16 people to 12 and 18 years in jail for malfeasance. They included three former top Krungthai Bank executives and Krisdamahanakorn executives.
Thaksin was the first defendant in the case, but he left the country in 2008.