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BANGKOK: Lawyers for Thailand's toppled prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Thursday sued an anti-corruption panel that has frozen nearly US$2 billion of the wealthy businessman's assets.
Thaksin will seek more than 50 billion baht (US$1.5b) in compensation from the Assets Examination Committee (AEC) appointed by the military-installed government to investigate him, his lawyer said.
"Thaksin has sent a team of lawyers to submit the case to sue the 11 members of the AEC today for the unfair assets freeze order," the ousted premier's lawyer and spokesman Noppadon Pattama told reporters.
He said the case had been submitted to Thailand's civil court, and Thaksin was seeking the 50 billion baht compensation plus 16.68 million baht for what Noppadon called "lost business opportunity."
"We have asked the justice of the court to invalidate the freeze order, revoke the order, and ... pay compensation," he added.
Military leaders ousted Thaksin in a bloodless putsch last September citing corruption and abuse of power under his rule, and have been under pressure to pin the former premier down on graft charges.
At least 28 bank accounts and cheques under Thaksin's name or linked to his business empire have been frozen since mid-June, as graft investigators scramble to track down profits from his family's controversial 73.2 billion baht tax-free sale of telecom giant Shin Corp.
The freeze on Thaksin's accounts, however, has not prevented the tycoon from successfully launching a 162.6 million-dollar takeover bid for British football club Manchester City, which is almost complete.
Thaksin, who has been living in exile since the coup, insists that the frozen money was earned before he entered politics and has denied wrongdoing.
Noppadon said Thaksin's lawyers would soon submit separate claims for Thaksin's wife Pojaman, their son and daughter, and Pojaman's step brother, all of whom have also had accounts frozen.
In other cases, Thai investigators have ordered Thaksin and Pojaman to return to Thailand and appear before police by July 27 to face charges of making fraudulent filings to stock exchange regulators.
The couple, currently in London, also face charges over a land deal. – AFP/ac
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