The Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases on Monday acquitted Panthongtae Shinawatra of money laundering, finding he did not know the source of a 10-million-baht cheque he received got from a friend involved the Krungthai Bank (KTB) loan scandal.
Public prosecutors arraigned the 41-year-old son of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Oct 10 last year, charging that the cheque was drawn on money from illegal loans totalling 9.9 billion baht obtained from the state-run KTB.
Mr Panthongtae denied money laundering. He said the money belonged to his friend Ratchada Krisdathanon, 53, who wanted to co-invest in a planned supercar import business which was later scrapped.
During the trial, Mr Panthongtae was released on bail of 1 million baht on the condition that he remained in the country.
The court ruled that Mr Panthongtae was not guilty of money laundering because public prosecutors failed to prove that he knew the source of the 10 million baht that he received from Ratchada's father Wichai Krisdathanon, owner of real estate developer Krisdamahanakorn (KMC).
