Sondhi jailed

Sondhi Limthongkul, one of the biggest names in the anti-Thaksin protest movement, is in jail today โ€“ at least temporarily pending bail โ€“ not for his political activities, but for defrauding his company more than a decade ago. The Appeals Court yesterday upheld a lower court's 20-year jail term.

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Sondhi Limthongkul addresses a large People's Alliance for Democracy crowd at Lumpini park in 2012. Today he is in jail on charges unrelated to his protest role. PATIPAT JANTHONG

Court upholds Sondhi's 20-year term

POST REPORTERS

The Appeals Court on Thursday upheld the lower court's 20-year jail sentence on Sondhi Limthongkul, founder of the Manager Media Group (MMG), along with two former managing directors of the company, for falsifying loan documents and fraud.

The two former directors are Saowalak Thiranujanyong and Yupin Chantana.

After hearing the judgement, the three submitted applications for bail, each offering a 10-million-baht surety.

Sondhi, best known as the former leader of the anti-Thaksin People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD),  was taken to Bangkok Remand Prison after the hearing, while Saowalak and Yupin were taken to the Central Women's Correctional Institution.

There were initially four defendants in the case, but only three appealed against the lower court's decision. The other defendant – Suradet Mukyangkoon, also a former managing director – did not appeal.

In October 2000, in a case filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the prosecution indicted the four in the Criminal Court, accusing Sondhi and the three former directors of falsifying loan guarantee documents to secure a 1.08-billion-baht loan by the company from Krung Thai Bank, without seeking approval from the board of directors.

The loan was arranged by The M Group, a private company controlled by Sondhi and a Manager Media Group shareholder.

MMG was listed as a guarantor of the loan, with Sondhi, Suradet, Saowalak and Yupin signing the guarantee document.

The SEC said the MMG board was unaware of the transaction, which was not disclosed in the company's financial statements.

The M Group later defaulted on the loan, resulting in MMG becoming liable for repayment and incurring 259 million baht damages.

Sondhi during his trial at the Criminal Court in 2010. At that time, he admitted doctoring documents. SURAPOL PROMSAKA NA SAKOLNAKORN

On Sept 17, 2012 the Criminal Court sentenced Sondhi and Saowalak to a total of 85 years in prison, Suradet to five years in jail, and Yupin to 65 years in jail.

Because of their confession, the jail terms were halved to 42 years and six months for Sondhi and Saowalak, two years and six months for Suradet, and 32 years and six months for Yupin.

Since the law limits prison terms to 20 years, the sentences for Sondhi, Saowalak and Yupin were reduced to 20 years.

The Appeals Court said it would forward the detainee's bail applications to the Supreme Court.

Bail consideration normally takes three to five days. But since the court will receive the requests on the last day of the week, which is followed by the four-day Mother's Day weekend, it is expected to announce next Thursday or Friday whether it will accept the bail requests.

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