Thai election bombshell

Locked in battle: Chuan and Thaksin (right)

The future of the man tipped to be Thailand's next prime minister is in doubt amid allegations that he is guilty of illegal share dealing and filing false declarations of his assets.

In politics there is a belief that you will gain from attacking other people, and I'm being attacked now

Thaksin Shinawatra

Reports in the Thai press say that a key committee of the country's anti-corruption watchdog has recommended that Thaksin Shinawatra be indicted for hiding his wealth through tax evasion and illegal share transfers.

The offence - a crime under the new constitution drawn up to wipe out corruption - could leave him barred from politics for five years.

Mr Thaksin has denied any wrongdoing and says any inaccuracies in his asset declarations were due to an oversight.

Opinion polls show that his fledgling party - Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) - has a strong lead over Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai's Democrat Party ahead of elections scheduled for 6 January.

Thaksin hits back

Thai newspapers quoted highly-placed sources, but the reports have not been confirmed by officials from the National Counter-Corruption Commission (NCCC).

Its investigating committee is said to have found that Mr Thaksin had benefitted by placing assets in the hands of nominees, evaded millions of dollars in taxes and violated stock market rules during a stint as deputy prime minister in 1997.

Thaksin claims he has the answers to Thailand's economic woes

The NCCC's nine-member board is to meet next Tuesday to decide whether to endorse its investigating committee's findings.

Mr Thaksin - a telecoms tycoon - hit back at the reported decision, accusing the Democrat Party of engineering his downfall.

"In politics there is a belief that you will gain from attacking other people, and I'm being attacked now," he said.

"There are irregularities in the NCCC decision but we will have to wait and see. The Democrats knows that there is only one way to beat Thai Rak Thai and that's to accuse us of foul play."

Billionaire

Chuan was cleared by the committee

Earlier this month, the billionaire businessman admitted in testimony to the investigating committee that he had failed to declare assets worth $15m - which amounts to less than 3% of his huge fortune.

He said he simply "forgot" about the controversial shares, which were placed under the names of household staff, including his driver and maid.

His party has vowed to fight any negative ruling against him in the Constitutional Court, which must ratify the NCCC's decision for a ban to take effect.

The court is unlikely to begin a hearing - which could last months - until after the elections.

The NCCC has already cleared Prime Minister Chuan of similar charges in a separate investigation.