Hitch in sentencing Greens

A Los Angeles District Court postponed sentencing on the Gerald Green’s case claiming there was a lack of documentation from Thailand outlining how the bribes had damaged the country.

Yesterday’s postponement to a 11 March hearing  surprised the prosecution, which was asking for the maximum penalty that would ensure the 78-year old Mr Green would spend the rest of his life in prison. It was the second postponement, the other being in mid-December.

The Los Angeles  judge claimed he needed documents from the Thai government identifying the damages to the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Bangkok Film Festival project  that could be attributed to the bribes, a Los Angeles newspaper reported.

According to the news report the court was packed with people interested in the fate of the former film director, who were found guilty of conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act and money laundering laws of the US, nine counts of violating the FCPA and seven counts of money laundering. Mr Gerald, 78, who is suffering from emphysema and other serious ailments, appeared in the court with a small oxygen tank to aid breathing.

However, Los Angeles Federal Court’s judge, George Woo, surprised the government prosecutor with a postponement until he had been furnished with additional background information that could help him determine an appropriate prison term.

Mr Woo expressed the need for official documents from Thai government to confirm that Thailand has been affected by the actions of the Greens. He also said that Thailand might have benefited from the Bangkok Film Festival, which was managed by the Greens and there was no evidence that Mr Gerald had any competitors in bidding for the festival.

“Normally, I hear the voices from injured person saying how life has been damaged. But for this case, I haven’t heard anything,” said the judge.

Despite Prosecutor Lopez objecting that it was improper to consider that a bribe was acceptable as long as the host benefited from the bribe, the judge asked him to search for comparative cases to support his argument for a maximum sentence.

In Thailand, the National Anti-Corruption Commission committee member and chairman to the sub-committee on the case of ex-TAT governor, Juthamas Siriwan, is visiting Los Angeles to seek information from the US Federal Court to complement his case file. He will report to the NAAC committee meeting in a few weeks, when a decision will be made on whether, or not, to pursue action against the former TAT governor and her daughter.