Shinawatra's City Purchase Under Investigation

Reuters reports: 

'Thailand's anti-graft body said on Monday it had begun a probe into 
whether ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra bought English 
Premier League soccer club Manchester City with legitimate financing. 
The Asset Examination Committee (AEC), set up after Thaksin was 
ousted in a bloodless coup last year, will ask the central bank to provide 
details of his money outflows and the British government to help verify 
the takeover.

'"We want to know if Thaksin really bought the club. If so, where did he
 get the money from and whether that money had been declared with the 
Counter Corruption Commission," as required by law, AEC chairman 
Nam Yimyam told reporters. 

'Another AEC member, who declined to be identified, said the panel 
would ask the British Embassy in Bangkok to help find out whether the 
takeover was done by Thaksin himself or by nominees and how it was 
financed. "If the probe shows he actually bought the club, we then will 
have to find out whether the money came from stock manipulation or 
legitimate businesses," the AEC member said. 

'The AEC said in August that Thaksin, a telecoms billionaire, might have 
bought the club with money he had hidden deliberately from the government 
as it was not mentioned in the asset declarations all Thai politicians have to 
make. The AEC ordered commercial banks in July to freeze 73 billion baht 
($2.15 billion) of Thaksin's money in domestic accounts, accusing him of 
amassing wealth during five years in office by abusing his power.'