Ex-Thai PM's wife guilty of fraud

The wife of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been convicted of tax fraud by a court in Bangkok.

Pojaman Shinawatra was sentenced to three years in prison, in the first of a series of cases against the family.

Her brother and her secretary were also found guilty of evading tax of 546m baht ($16.3m) in a shares transfer in 1997 in the family telecoms business.

The trio were freed on bail of 5m baht ($149,000) each pending an appeal, Thai court officials said.

Pojaman Shinawatra's brother, Bannapot Damapong, was also sentenced to three years in jail, while her secretary was handed a two-year sentence.

Politically motivated

Mr Thaksin's wife, who is his most important political and business partner, looked stunned as the court found her guilty.

A judge read out the verdicts in a televised ruling, saying that she "was meant to be a good role model as the wife of the prime minister".

Mr Thaksin has always denied any wrongdoing by his family in this case and several other lawsuits filed against them.

The military ousted him in September 2006, accusing him of corruption and abuse of power. But Mr Thaksin has maintained that the charges are politically motivated.

His party, Thai Rak Thai, was outlawed following the coup, and Mr Thaksin was banned from politics for five years.