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Bank accounts belonging to Thailand's billionaire former Prime
Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, have been frozen, the government has
announced.
A committee investigating claims of corruption during Mr
Thaksin's era said it had ordered accounts worth 52.9bn baht
($1.63bn, £830m) to be frozen.
Mr Thaksin has been under investigation since his ousting in a
coup last year.
His lawyer said the new move was politically motivated and that
the ex-prime minister would challenge it.
"It is a political decision that is legally baseless," Noppadol
Pattama told Reuters news agency. "The aim is to prevent the ex-PM
and his wife from running their own normal lives."
Manchester City bid
Mr Thaksin is reported to be involved in a bid to buy English
Premier League club Manchester City.
On Monday morning AFP quoted Mr Noppadol as saying that the
football club deal, estimated at about £100m ($197m), was
progressing well.
"The negotiations are underway, in line with English law. The
result is likely to be good, and the negotiations should not take a
long time," he was quoted as saying.
However, correspondents say it could be affected by the asset
freeze.
The Assets Examination Committee, set up by the country's new
military rulers after last year's coup, said it had concluded that
Mr Thaksin had "committed wrongdoings".
It issued two orders covering the former prime minister's
assets.
Telecoms sale
The first freezes 21 accounts holding money made from the
controversial sale in January 2006 of Shin Corp, Mr Thaksin's
telecoms giant, to a Singaporean firm, committee spokesman Sak
Korsaengruang said.
The sale sparked days of street protests in Bangkok and was a
key factor in the political unrest that preceded the military
coup.
The second order freezes an unspecified number of accounts Mr
Thaksin and his wife hold in Bangkok pending a corruption probe, he
said.
The couple had 60 days to appeal against the decision, he
said.
Thailand's military ousted Mr Thaksin in September 2006,
accusing him of corruption and abuse of power.
He was out of the country at the time and now lives in exile in
London.
Last month, his Thai Rak Thai party was ordered to be dissolved
and he was banned from politics for five years.
Source:
BBC
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