04 September 2024
His Majesty's Attorney General has recently assisted the United States Department of Justice by returning more than £230,000 in confiscated funds to the United States, for the ultimate benefit of the people of Thailand.
In December 2007, the Attorney General received a Letter of Request from the United States authorities in respect of the US criminal investigation regarding US nationals Gerald Green (now deceased), his wife Patricia Martha Green, and Thai nationals Juthamas Siriwan (former Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand) and her daughter Jittisopa Siriwan. It was established that the Greens had paid bribes to the Siriwans in exchange for lucrative contracts to run the Bangkok International Film Festival and other projects, between 2003 and 2007.
US$441,434.80 of bribe payments were traced to a Jersey-based account in the name of Jittisopa Siriwan. At the request of the US authorities, the Attorney General obtained, on 10 April 2008, a saisie judiciaire over the assets.
In 2009, the Greens were convicted in the United States of money laundering and bribery, and in 2017, the Siriwans were convicted in Thailand for their roles in the offending. In parallel, US authorities also filed a civil forfeiture proceeding against Jittisopa Siriwan's assets, including the Jersey-based account. The US obtained a civil forfeiture order and thereafter issued a request for mutual legal assistance, seeking registration and enforcement, in the Royal Court of Jersey, of that judgment.
In March 2022, the Royal Court discharged the saisie and granted a Property Restraint Order over the assets in the Jersey bank account in connection with the US civil forfeiture action.
On 26 January 2023, a 'Stipulated Settlement Agreement' was reached between the United States and Jittisopa Siriwan, whereby the latter agreed to withdraw her claim to the funds in the Jersey account, and a recommendation was made that the net forfeited assets should be transferred to the Kingdom of Thailand, the ultimate victim in the case. On 15 August 2023, the Attorney General made a successful application to the Royal Court of Jersey for the registration of the US Judgment consistent with the agreement. As a result, the assets were transferred into the Civil Asset Recovery Fund; and under the framework established by a pre-existing 2015 permanent bilateral Asset-Sharing Agreement between the United States and Jersey, £236,173.81 was transferred to the United States, to be repatriated thereafter to the Kingdom of Thailand.
Attorney General Mark Temple KC said: “while the funds confiscated by the Jersey authorities in the present case are understood to represent only a fraction of the total global losses which are believed to have been suffered by the Kingdom of Thailand, the successful repatriation of the funds serves to underline the commitment of the Jersey authorities to draw upon both criminal and civil powers as a means to assist its overseas partners in the global fight against corruption".
gov.je