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BANGKOK, THAILAND - Thai prosecutors asked the Supreme Court on Monday to seize former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's 76 billion baht (US$2.2 billion) in assets frozen in Thai banks after he was ousted in a 2006 coup.
In 300,000 pages of documents presented to a nine-judge panel, prosecutors argued Thaksin had abused his powers during 5 years in office to enrich his associates and businesses owned by his family.
"The prosecutors are presenting evidence to ask the court to take away his unusual wealth and put it in state coffers," chief prosecutor Seksan Bangsomboon told reporters.
The asset seizure case began in July 2007 when a panel of graftbusters appointed by the 2006 coup makers ordered Thai banks to freeze Thaksin's domestic accounts, accusing him of amassing extraordinary wealth since he became prime minister in 2001.
Thaksin and his wife, Potjaman, skipped bail earlier this month and flew to London where his lawyer said the former billionaire telecoms tycoon planned to seek political asylum.
The Supreme Court has issued arrest warrants for the two and seized 13 million baht in bail bonds after Thaksin failed to appear in a corruption case earlier this month, one of several graft cases looming over the former premier.
Thaksin has denied any wrongdoing and said political enemies who engineered the 2006 coup were meddling in the courts, making it impossible for him to receive a fair hearing.
Thailand has begun the lengthy process of trying to extradite Thaksin from Britain, where he spent much of his time after the coup and bought English Premiership soccer club Manchester City.
(US$1 = 33.94 baht)
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