Juthamas and daughter go to court to fight bribery case
FORMER Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) governor Juthamas Siriwan and daughter showed up at the Criminal Court yesterday to fight corruption and related charges over an alleged Bt60-million bribe paid to them by an American couple for the right to hold
The court set February 1, 2016 for hearings on charges filed by prosecutors based on investigation by the anti-graft agency and related entities.
Prosecutors have lined up 25 witnesses to testify against Juthamas, 68, and her daughter Jittisopha, 41, for allegedly seeking the kickback from the American business couple. Juthamas was TAT governor in 2005 when the kickback was allegedly paid.
She was also charged with rigging the bidding for the right to hold the Bangkok film festivals and violated state procurement law.
Juthamas and Jittisopha were accompanied by lawyer Thanakorn Waekwaree. The two suspects were previously released on a bail of Bt1 million each. Both have denied the charges and will fight the case in court.
Prosecutors said they have 25 witnesses and other evidence, including members of an investigation committee and anti-graft officials, while Juthamas and Jittisopha said they had a list of 97 items for the defence and asked the court to issue orders for some of the documents which will be used in the court.
Citing the hearing process, the court agreed to give the defence more time to prepare as some need to be translated into Thai for use in the court so the first hearing was postponed till February 1 next year.
Juthamas said she was not worried about the prospect of being extradited to the US where the American couple, Gerald and Patricia Green, have already been sentenced to six months in jail and house detention in 2010 in connection with the alleged bribery case in Thailand.
The American couple were in the film-making business in Los Angeles and allegedly paid the kickback to Juthamas to secure the right to organize the film events in Bangkok without going through a proper bidding process.
The US has also sought the extradiction of Juthamas for legal action in its country. It remains unclear if the suspects would still be sent to the US after facing a trial in Thailand.
Earlier, the former TAT governor did not show up and the case was suspended.
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