Crime Gold Scam Bust in Bangkok: Two Executives Arrested in ฿600 Million Fraud

[Georgealbert]

 

Picture courtesy of Khaosod.

 

In a major fraud bust, officers from The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) raided a gold trading company in central Bangkok and arrested two senior executives over a large-scale gold investment scam that has defrauded more than 100 victims out of over 600 million baht.

 

The raid was led by Deputy CIB Commissioner Pol Maj Gen Montri Teskan, following a court-issued search warrant. Officers entered the company premises on Charoen Krung Road in the Wang Burapha Phirom area of Phra Nakhon district, seizing key documents and client transaction records linked to gold trading, deposits, and payments.

 

The arrested executives, identified as Mr. Phiphat and Mr. Asupon, are two of the company’s three top-level managers. They are accused of orchestrating a sophisticated gold scam by promising inflated returns, requesting gold from clients in advance, but failing to make any subsequent payments.

 

Initial investigations reveal that the company, which had operated for over a decade, began defaulting on payments in early March this year. Complaints started surfacing from small-scale gold shop owners who had either failed to receive payment after delivering gold or were unable to retrieve their gold deposited as collateral. In many cases, the company claimed the gold had “gone missing.”

 

The operation followed a formal complaint submitted by academic and consumer advocate Parnthep Puapongpan, who led a group of victims to file a case with the CIB in late March. According to police, the damages occurred mainly between 13–27 March 2025 and include a variety of fraudulent scenarios. Some clients sold gold to the company but never received the agreed payment; others who had deposited gold were told it could not be returned or had been refined into gold bars that also never materialised.

 

Despite the company being aware of its worsening financial condition, it continued to solicit gold from clients, offering above-market prices to attract more transactions. Investigators said the company even sold some of the acquired gold to major brokers but withheld the funds instead of repaying clients.

 

The earliest known unpaid transaction involved a single customer who lost 106 million baht. Authorities believe the company’s executives deliberately concealed their financial collapse while continuing to operate with intent to defraud.

 

Further charges of fraud and embezzlement are expected as the investigation expands. Police are continuing to track the third senior executive and to verify the full scope of the losses. Victims have expressed anger at what they describe as a calculated and cynical scheme designed to exploit trust within the tightly-knit gold trading community.

 

 

  Adapted by Asean Now from Khaosod 2025-06-27