Thaksin's wife returns to face corruption charges

The wife of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was handed an arrest warrant today after she returned to Thailand to face corruption charges that could put her behind bars for 20 years.

Police presented Pojamarn Shinawatra with the warrant at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport and asked her to sign it, said police Maj Gen Thaweesak Toochinda.

“We are asking her to double-check the document to ensure that she is the same person for which the court has issued the arrest warrant and then will take her right to the court,” Mr Thaweesak said.

Earlier, Mrs Pojamarn’s lawyer, Pichit Chuenban, said she had sent him a statement saying: “I intend to fight the charges in court ... I am willing to fight the case in court in accordance with the judicial system.”

The case involves Mrs Pojamarn’s 2003 purchase of some prime Bangkok property from the Financial Institutions Development Fund – a state rescue fund directed by the central bank.

An anti-corruption law bars prime ministers or their spouses from doing business with government agencies.

The Supreme Court issued warrants in August for the Thaksins on charges of conflict of interest and malfeasance. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

The couple also face arrest over alleged concealment of his ownership of millions worth of shares from the Thai Stock Exchange.

Mr Thaksin’s lawyer said yesterday that the former prime minister planned to return to Thailand from self-imposed exile by mid-April and was also prepared to defend himself in court.

Mr Thaksin, who owns Manchester City FC, denies any wrongdoing while he was prime minister from 2001 to 2006.

He has been living mostly in London since being ousted in a September 2006 military coup.