Second arrest warrant issued for Thaksin on revived Krisdamahanakorn’s bank loan case

The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions on Wednesday issued a second warrant for the arrest of Thaksin Shinawatra to stand trial on a revived corruption case regarding the extension of 9.9 billion baht loans to companies owned by real estate developer, Krisdamahanakorn or KMC by state-run Krungthai Bank.

The court held its first hearing of the case against the fugitive former prime minister which dated back to 2012 when Thaksin and 26 others, who were former KTB officials and executives of the involved firm, were indicated by the Office of the Attorney-General for malfeasance in office in the loans extension despite the fact that KMC was already classified by the bank as a non-performing debtor with non-performing loans.

The case against Thaksin was withdrawn because he had already escaped out of the country.  Under the Thai law, a trail must be carried out at the presence of the defendants.

In 2015, the court handed down a verdict on the case, giving heavy jail terms from 12-18 years to 26 defendants, including then KTB president Viroj Nualkhae and ex-chairman Suchai Jaovisidh who were given 18 years’ imprisonment.

The public prosecutor of the case was present at the court’s hearing on Wednesday, but without Thaksin.

The court then ruled that since Thaksin was fully aware of the appointment with the court and did not show up with a proper reason, a second arrest warrant was issued against the fugitive former prime minister.

The court also set September 26 as the date for the examination of evidence of both the prosecution and the defendant.  The prosecutor was also told to submit a list of its witnesses 14 days ahead of the September 26 appointment.

The retrial of the Krisdamahanakorn case against Thaksin was made possible after an amendment of the Criminal Procedure Code to legitimize court trial even without the presence of the defendants.