The fifth defendant, Pranee Vejjapruekpitak, former secretary to Thaksin's ex-wife Khunying Potjaman na Pombejra, was hit with a two-year term for supporting the offence. The court decided to delay the reading of the ruling to Dec 26 after Ms Pranee was absent from court and filed for a postponement. Her lawyer submitted evidence to prove she was suffering from vertigo and could not travel. The case is related to the Shinawatra siblings purchasing 164.6 million Shin Corp shares each at the par price of one baht per share in 2006, when the shares were actually going for 49.25 baht each. According to the anti-graft agency, the purchase was considered earned income and Thaksin's children had to pay tax based on the share-price earnings gap of 7.94 billion baht each, or a total of 15.88 billion baht, for their gain.

Source: Bangkok Post November 26, 2019 10:18 UTC