S.F. man jailed on child sex charges

Multimillionaire held in Thailand at Mexico's request

Stephanie Salter, Elizabeth Fernandez, Chronicle Staff Writers
Staff writer Tyche Hendricks provided translations, and Rafael D. Frankel of The Chronicle's Foreign Desk in Thailand also reported.

Friday, February 14, 2003

A San Francisco multimillionaire was jailed in Thailand this week for possible extradition to Mexico on charges of child sexual abuse involving young boys in the resort town of Puerto Vallarta.

Thomas Frank White, who made his fortune here in investment securities and helped pioneer discount online stock brokering, was being held in a 26- by 13- foot cell with about 20 other inmates at the Bangkok Remand Prison, Thai law enforcement authorities said.

According to Thai authorities, White was arrested Tuesday evening in the lobby of Bangkok's opulent Hotel Oriental. Lt. Col. Chanchai Likitkarnsatorn of Thailand's Crime Suppression Division Police made the arrest, which had been requested by the Mexican government. Mexico does not have an extradition treaty with Thailand, but petitioned the Thai government for White's arrest on Dec. 4.

White founded Thomas F. White & Co. Inc. in San Francisco in 1978 and established many subsidiaries in the ensuing years. Today is his 68th birthday.

One of his American attorneys, Nanci Clarence, who flew from San Francisco to Bangkok, described the conditions in the cell as "crowded and filthy" and "intolerable." She said White has been forced to sleep on a cold, hard concrete floor and has not received medication for a heart condition.

He has been wanted in Mexico on charges of child sexual abuse and providing drugs to minors since the state of Jalisco issued a warrant for his arrest on Feb. 26, 2001. Mexican federal prosecutors followed with their own warrant on similar charges in October 2001.

White also is named as a co-defendant in a civil suit filed in San Francisco Superior Court in November, which alleges sex abuse of a minor from Modesto in White's Upper Haight home, one of five residential properties he owns in the city. The plaintiff, now 20, says the abuse took place when he was 17.

White had been under scrutiny since mid-1999 by child protection advocates in Puerto Vallarta, where he owns a resort hotel and a seaside villa called the Casa Blanca.

Mexican authorities say his alleged victims are about a dozen poor or homeless boys between ages 10 and 16 who submitted sworn affidavits accusing White of enticing them to his home, paying them for sex and providing some with drugs.

Through attorneys in San Francisco and Mexico, White has denied all charges.

Jose Maria Ortega Padilla of Juarez told The Chronicle that his client is the victim of "an orchestrated conspiracy" and has been "accused by some young children who were used by someone wanting to harm White. They were pressured to accuse White. These are not credible charges."

Ortega Padilla called the allegations "entirely baseless" and said the case against White "was instigated by people who seek notoriety by making false accusations against prominent members of the community. With a prejudiced agenda they were only too pleased to ruin the reputation of a wealthy, gay San Franciscan who spent time in Mexico . . ."

Ortega Padilla said he has filed sworn affidavits from "each of Mr. White's accusers" who allegedly have recanted their accusations against White.

But according to Marco Roberto Juarez Gonzalez, who is handling the Jalisco general prosecutor's case against White in Puerto Vallarta, any retracted statements that may be filed would have to be examined and ruled upon by a judge.

In Mexico, said Juarez, "justices tend to give more value to initial statements" than to retracted ones because "they know that witnesses can be compromised" into changing their testimony.

Until the municipal government of Puerto Vallarta refused to issue a use permit in February 2001, White planned to operate a shelter and school for poor children in a compound he had built in the village of Mismaloya, just south of Puerto Vallarta.

Information in a videotape obtained by The Chronicle indicates that White also is funding a school and shelter for poor children in the Jomtien Beach area of Pattaya, Thailand, about 68 miles from Bangkok.

Citing protections guaranteed by the U.S. Privacy Act, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok refused to confirm that White was in custody, but did say that embassy staff had "made contact" with a U.S. citizen who had been detained.

In July 2002, at the behest of Mexican authorities, the FBI issued a transit warrant for White. It notified U.S. law enforcement agencies, including the San Francisco Police Department, that White was wanted for extradition as a "narcotics user" and for "child molestation of several minors. " The transit warrant advised police to contact the San Francisco office of the FBI.

Sometime after the FBI document was issued, White left San Francisco and traveled to Pattaya, Thailand. He has been living there for several months in an exclusive residential development that caters to European and American buyers and offers extra privacy as a key selling point.

Piyathida Jermahunsa, the special prosecutor in Bangkok who will handle the White case for Thailand, told The Chronicle that White could be detained in jail for up to 60 days. She said she is waiting for the Mexican Embassy in Bangkok to forward information about the Mexican investigation of White.

A spokesman for the Mexican embassy in Bangkok said he would not answer any questions about the case at this time.

©2003 San Francisco Chronicle Press