Son of Thailand's former PM Thaksin faces money laundering indictment

BANGKOK (Reuters) - The son of fugitive former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra arrived at the office of the attorney-general on Wednesday to face an indictment for money laundering, in a move his supporters called politically motivated.

Ahead of a general election scheduled for next year, supporters of the Shinawatras, backed by poor, rural voters, accuse the military government, which took power after a 2014 coup, of seeking to hobble the family and its allies.

The military government denies it is singling out the family.

On Wednesday, Panthongtae Shinawatra, 38, also known by his nickname “Oak”, was accompanied on his visit to the authorities by both his sisters and many senior members of the Thaksin-backed Puea Thai Party.

“Panthongtae Shinawatra will be prosecuted...on charges of money laundering and conspiring to launder money of the amount of 10 million baht,” the Attorney General said in a statement.

Last year, authorities formally charged him with having received a cheque for 10 million baht ($304,000) in 2004, in relation to a prior corruption case over fraudulent loans of 9.9 billion baht made by state-owned Krungthai Bank when his father was prime minister.