Others who appear in the ICIJ documents include Potjaman Na Pombejra, the former wife of Thailand’s ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and her stepbrother Bhanapot Damapong.
Potjaman and Damapong, along with former premier Shinawatra, were charged with corruption after a military coup in 2006 that ousted Shinawatra from power.
Potjaman and Shinawatra obtained a high-profile divorce at the Thai consular office in Hong Kong in 2008.
In 2010, about $1.4 billion of Shinawatra’s family assets were seized after he was found guilty by the Supreme Court of corruption and abuse of power to benefit his family’s telecommunication company, Shin Corporation, while he was prime minister. Later the same year, the Supreme Court also determined that he used offshore entities to conceal his ownership of shares in Shin Corporation — ownership that ought to have been revealed under Thai law.
The ICIJ documents reveal that while the former Prime Minister’s then-wife Potjaman was fighting her separate court battles against the corruption charges she purchased an offshore company called Premium Select Inc.
It was incorporated in the British Virgin Islands in 2007, and soon after she was listed as the sole owner. The company was set up with the help of a Singapore subsidiary of Swiss banking giant UBS. Two BVI holding companies were appointed as on-paper stand-ins for Potjaman — Execorp Limited as the “nominee” director and Sharecorp Limited as “nominee” shareholder.
It is unclear what Premium Select Inc. was used for, if anything. It did not last long. Potjaman did not pay the company's license extension in mid-2008. That was the same year she and her stepbrother Damapong were found guilty in a separate tax evasion court case, also involving Shin Corporation.
Thaksin and Potjaman Shinawatra.
Potjaman’s lawyer, Somporn Pongsuwan, did not return several phone calls seeking information on the offshore entity.
A criminal court sentenced both Potjaman and Damapong to three years' imprisonment in 2008 over the tax evasion charges. However, they were immediately released on bail.
In 2011, an appeals court acquitted Potjaman and reduced Damapong’s sentence to two years, with the jail term suspended.
The ICIJ data shows Damapong was the owner of two other BVI companies. He purchased Bounti Harvest Corporation in BVI in 2004, using the same companies — Execorp Limited and Sharecorp Limited —as nominee shareholder and director.
It is unclear from the data what Bounti Harvest was used for. It went defunct in 2009.
In 2006, Damapong bought Tropic Offshore Holdings Inc., and was registered as its owner until 2007. Both of these companies were also registered through UBS AG Singapore.
Damapong could not be contacted for comment.
Both Potjaman and Damapong are now free of their legal difficulties. They live in Thailand while Shinawatra remains in exile, investing in various businesses through a host of companies registered overseas.
One of his past investments was the 2007 purchase of the British Premier League soccer club Manchester City for $163 million, which he sold for a reported $36 million profit to Abu Dhabi United Group one year later.
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