Earlier this month the U.S. filed its opposition to ex-TAT Governor, Ms. Juthamas Siriwan’s, and her daughter, Jittisopa Siriwan’s, motion to dismiss the U.S. indictment against them.  A U.S. court obviously cannot rule on whether the Siriwans violated Thai anti-corruption laws.  Their motion addresses a matter of U.S. law – specifically, the use of U.S. wire fraud and money laundering laws in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) cases.  The motion therefore raises issues of importance to all FCPA cases.

The U.S. is not shy in its criticism of the arguments raised by the Siriwans’s counsel in their motion to dismiss the indictment.  In its “Summary of Argument”, on page one, the U.S.’s opposition memorandum says:

Upon analysis of defendants’ arguments, it is quickly evident that, in support of their positions, defendants routinely conflate and confuse multiple statutes, interpret and argue the elements of uncharged statutes, and ignore case law relevant to the statutes actually charged.

On page six of the U.S.’s opposition memorandum: "Defendants’ entire motion is based on a tortured analysis, or, in certain areas, a complete lack of analysis, of the charges set forth in the Indictment."

The defendants apparently plan their reply papers on 4 October.

Although this could change, the hearing is still set for 20 October 2011.