0		Crime, Century

AP:

A former Cabinet minister of ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's government will be tried next month on charges of abuse of authority and corruption in a rubber plantation scandal, the Supreme Court said Wednesday.

The case is among dozens that Thaksin and his associates face for illegal acts they allegedly committed during his five years in power. Thaksin was toppled by a military coup in September 2006.

Former Finance Minister Somkid Jatusripitak and ex-Deputy Agriculture Minister Newin Chidchob are among 44 defendants who will be tried by the Supreme Court for alleged irregularities relating to the procurement of 90 million rubber saplings worth 1.4 billion baht (US$41.5 million).

Somkid is accused of abusing his authority because a farmer's rehabilitation fund from which the money for the saplings was drawn was supposed to have been used to replace old rubber trees rather than to expand plantation areas.

Allegations of corruption during the bidding process have also been made, the court said.

BP: They have time to investigate this?

NOTE: Somkid has long abandoned TRT and was known to no longer be in the Thaksin camp.