PM appears before corruption panel

PM appears before corruption panel

BANGKOK (AP): Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai testified to Thailand's anti-corruption board on Thursday that he failed to declare ownership of certain shares because they were given to him without his knowledge.

Chuan testified before the National Counter Corruption Commission in private for just over an hour about failing to declare ownership of 100,000 baht ($2,270) worth of shares in an agricultural and trading cooperative in the southern province of Surat Thani.

Cabinet ministers and their spouses are required to declare their assets and liabilities before, during and after holding office. Punishment can include banishment from politics for five years and prosecution.

The commission has received complaints about perhaps a dozen members of the government, including Chuan.