The caption of a YouTube clip posted by a mainstream media outlet asks a legitimate question: What can we do when an institution we normally rely on appears highly untrustworthy?
The seemingly-ballooning case involving the famous “people’s lawyer”, Sittra Biabangkerd, is more profound than meets the eye. From a simple allegation of someone close to his client skimming off the top, it now is evolving into something much scarier, featuring mysterious wills and alleged monitoring of movements through a car GPS device.
The case has caught much public attention because Sittra, 43, also known as “lawyer Tam”, had built a reputation as someone ready to fight legally for the poor or those who couldn’t defend themselves, and as a fearless whistleblower ready to expose corruption or abuses at the highest levels in the government.
Probably more importantly, the case is making people mistrust those who they are supposed to trust the most _ their lawyers. The iCon issue involves celebrities, who are more adored than trusted. Countless national scandals involve the police. As for politicians, acts of decency, not acts of indecency, raise eyebrows.
This leaves lawyers. The Thai society is different from, say, America, where lawyer jokes abound and the term “ambulance chasers” (lawyers thriving on encouraging anyone to sue for damages so they get handsome shares of the cake) is there for good reason. Thais honestly see their lawyers as saviors or helpers.
Jatuporn Ubonlert is the same, or “was” the same to be exact. She had trusted Sittra so much that she reportedly paid him Bt300,000 a month to look after her financial interests. The woman had won a European lotto which turned her from an ordinary Thai lady into someone having billions of baht overnight.
A bit older, she reportedly treated Sittra like a beloved younger brother for a while, sponsoring trips by him and his family to Europe where the well-accommodated visitors could stay as long as they liked. Jatuporn, according to some reports, also funded an oversea trip or trips of staff of the Sittra Law Firm.
He allegedly wanted her to adopt his son. He allegedly wanted a relative to marry her son. He helped her write her wills, one of which, made last year, allegedly named him as the inheritance executor. He took care of her financial dealings in Thailand.
Nobody knows for sure when things started to turn sour. It must have been substantially before she made her last will in the presence of Thai authorities. This will says nothing about him being the executor.
News reports said her “suspicion” accumulated before she decided to draw up her last will. The suspicion was reportedly caused by an overpriced luxurious van he bought for her in Thailand which added up the alleged pattern of paying more than she should have if Sittra was involved in transactions.
After paying him Bt300,000 a month for about a year, she decided to terminate the salary system, and told him payment would be instead made on a case-by-case basis depending on his legal services. He allegedly kept staying close, though, suggesting projects she should undertake in Thailand.
One of the projects, according to Jatuporn, was online lottery sale, requiring a substantial investment and she allegedly paid Sittra Bt71 million for it. When all signs pointed to the project being absolutely stalled, she demanded the money back.
Jatuporn and her secretary sought help from the Manager media outlet, and Sittra subsequently made a mistake of challenging Manager big boss Sondhi Limthongkul to accept a urine-drinking bet, to be decided when the dust settles down.
Jatuporn wanted the Manager to help her retrieve Bt71 million from Sittra, who she said had lured her into investing in the online lottery project in Thailand which never materialised. He insisted she gave him the money as a willing gift because he had worked hard for her.
Bt71 million might look a lot as a gift, but check out her wealth, Sittra kept saying in public.
What should have been a simple financial quarrel soon escalated beyond anyone’s imagination, largely because of the urine-drinking bet that enraged the entire Manager organisation.
The network started digging vehemently and tumultuously, and other networks joined in just as vehemently and tumultuously.
Investigative or detailed reporting was subsequently in full swing, dominating the social media and presented shocking development practically every day.
All of a sudden, he was allegedly involved in a complicated plot to defraud her of Bt39 million because she wanted a Chinese star to come to Thailand.
The plot involved someone close to Sittra allegedly telling her that, because of her wish to see the Chinese star, his (the Sittra acquaintance’s) crypto account lost a lot of money to digital scammers. Feeling guilty because the acquaintance was trying to help her, she paid the account owner Bt39 million.
There were reports that about half of the Bt39 million could be traced to the lawyer.
In addition to that, there was the overpriced van, and an architectural blueprint of a northeastern Thai “hotel” that was never built. Some Bt9 million was charged for the blueprint although the company that drew it reportedly quoted a lot less.
On November 7, Sittra and his wife were arrested by Crime Suppression Division (CSD) as they were heading for Chachoengsao province in their brown
Porsche Cayenne. His defence said he was planning to visit a temple, but the fact that he and his wife were caught near the eastern border was a major reason to deny them bail.
According to the police, Sittra was charged with fraud and money laundering, while his wife, Patitta, was charged with money laundering only.
If his arrest was a climax, a bigger one has come this week. Media outlets drummed up the GPS in the van, linking it to Sittra’s alleged attempts to assert himself as Jatuporn’s will executor and his perceived eagerness to take her on long tours while in Thailand.
Certain media organisations have openly talked about speculation of Hollywood-style ill-intention attempts. It has gone from a he said-she said financial squabble to something like a thriller, all at the expense of a famous lawyer who is now locked up and unable to defend himself.
Dark theories revolving around her Bt5.7 billion wealth have made jaws drop. Sittra’s previous cases that brought him fame _ and some controversies _ have been revisited by the media. His association with a powerful, very senior and highly-controversial police officer is also a major subject of speculation.
Sittra lived within a circle of supercars and brand-name products and accessories. This prompted a famous news host to ask him a big question just weeks ago:
“Many think you are a ‘grey’ lawyer, as all the luxury is not supposed to have any business with a ‘people’s lawyer’. What do you say about that?”
“I just got lucky,” Sittra replied. Then he proceeded to talk about Jatuporn’s wealth and generosity without naming her directly. He said he was simply fortunate to have got to know her who paid him handsomely for his services and came to like him very much.
In the end, he was not that fortunate. Apparent winners are the Manager and unexpectedly the police, who have the guts to act quickly against one of Thailand’s best-connected and most renowned lawyers.
Yet many people say the swift action in the iCon scandal, which has led to unexpected arrests of several big-name celebrities, and the Lawyer Tam case only prove the Thai police can be efficient if they choose to.
“It’s so easy to lock up all the bad guys, especially money launderers, in the country,” someone commented on a YouTube clip featuring Sittra.
“They all love supercars. All police have to do is work in cahoots with the sellers and pounce on anyone buying the things in cash. No honest supercar lovers do that.”
