Thai Twitter Guru Accused Of Online Financial Scam

[webfact]

TWITTER

Twitter guru accused of IT scam

By Suchart Rakmankhong,

Mayuree Sukyingcharoenwong

The Nation

A Twitter star has admitted he is facing complaints that he cooked up an online financial scam, but denied criminal intent and insisted the money he took would all be returned.

Sugree Phatanapherom said yesterday that his "business venture", in which 39 people had paid him Bt14 million since October 2009 and had not received the promised monthly 10-per-cent returns since January, was legitimate despite the complaints lodged with police.

Sugree, a PhD candidate in computer engineering at Kasetsart University, has been known as an information-technology wizard for his introduction of Twitter in Thailand four years ago. He has been dubbed a Twitter evangelist by certain groups of IT people who lauded him for his contribution to open-source developments among other technological accomplishments in Thailand.

Among other significant roles, Sugree works as a researcher in the Thai National Grid Centre. His main task is to focus on developing a large-scale monitoring system for cluster and grid computing, especially Thai national grid infrastructure.

Sugree, whose Twitter account is @sugree, admitted to posting an invitation for investment in his weblog, which cannot be accessed now, with a promise of monthly 10-per-cent returns on investment. But he claimed he was only acting as a middleman for a friend's enterprise - resale of cheap souvenirs to retailers.

He said he was in the process of selling a large land plot in Bangkok worth about Bt10 million to return the money to his 39 clients.

"I don't know what else to do now, but to keep returning the money from my meagre salary," he said. "Some of them reached a compromise with me after my promise to give them back the money. I cannot say much about it from now on, as my lawyer cautions me not to."

The issue was raised initially in tweets and re-tweets of alleged victims, before reporters queried police about it and found that a complaint had been lodged.

In his complaint lodged with police, Pomwat Bunwong said he gave Sugree Bt400,000 and was given Bt20,000 and another Bt40,000. Pomwat said Sugree's business was sale of tax-free contraband goods auctioned from the Customs Department.

One alleged victim, Yingyos Theerataweewut, welcomed Sugree's pledge to return money, but said he feared the Twitter guru had few assets left under his name. Yingyos said he gave Sugree Bt50,000 and was given Bt12,500 for five months, before the payment stopped.

According to Yingyos, Sugree admitted to giving a woman a huge amount of money in another investment, and the clients later helped locate the unnamed woman, who said she took Bt8 million from Sugree. Yingyos said he had heard a rumour that Sugree had been transferring his assets to his wife and children, but could not confirm it.

A joint complaint was lodged on October 4 by 30 clients, including Yingyos, with Crime Suppression Division police.

-- The Nation 2010-12-23

[asiawatcher]

Madoff move over - its Thailands turn!

[Jonesy99]

I know Sugree and there is absolutely no way he engineered this. He is a very nice guy and probably the least money motivated person I know.

This is a classic case of people taking advantage of a guy who is somewhat easily led due to his generosity and willingness to help others, setting him up as a middle-man and then shafting him royally.

Real shame, especially as he is probably going to end up selling all his family owns in order to fix the situation. Somebody somewhere is sitting on a pile of cash but it isn't Sugree.

[brahmburgers]

I know Sugree and there is absolutely no way he engineered this. He is a very nice guy and probably the least money motivated person I know.

This is a classic case of people taking advantage of a guy who is somewhat easily led due to his generosity and willingness to help others, setting him up as a middle-man and then shafting him royally.

Real shame, especially as he is probably going to end up selling all his family owns in order to fix the situation. Somebody somewhere is sitting on a pile of cash but it isn't Sugree.

He doesn't sound so innocent to me. From the article, it sounds as though he doesn't deny he did something wrong and he's going to bend over backwards to pay people off. Were people duped and cheated? Maybe law enforcement can decide fairly one way or another. This being Thailand, nothing is as it seems, and all such legal maneuverings are clouded with 'appearances' 'who you know' 'excuses' 'bribes for leniency' and such. If he's as innocent as Jonesy99 perceives him to be, let's hope he gets off and any real culprits (if there are any) are dealt with squarely according to the law.

[siampolee]

I blame the ''investors.

'' 10% per month return on ones investment, equates to 120% per year,double your money and a 20% bonus.

The expression is not gullible but GREED.

Fools and their money are soon parted, one reads on weekly basis how idiots trade banknote to men with magic boxes who promise a 100% return on the investment, we read how greedy fools part with all their detail concerning their A.T.M cards and account numbers on the promise of large sums of money to be paid into their accounts to people they can't see and do not know.

Greed is the root cause of these ignoramuses losing their money.

No sympathy from me, but a bloody good laugh at their greed and the lust for the quick baht.

[housepainter]

I know Sugree and there is absolutely no way he engineered this. He is a very nice guy and probably the least money motivated person I know.

This is a classic case of people taking advantage of a guy who is somewhat easily led due to his generosity and willingness to help others, setting him up as a middle-man and then shafting him royally.

Real shame, especially as he is probably going to end up selling all his family owns in order to fix the situation. Somebody somewhere is sitting on a pile of cash but it isn't Sugree.

I know Madoff and there is absolutely no way he engineered this. He is a very nice guy now serving 999 years and probably the least money motivated person I know since they locked him up and .

This is a classic Ponzi Scheme of people taking advantage of an impossible return on their investment due to the greed and willingness of someone wanting to con all others, setting himself up as a business man and then shafting all comers.

Real shame, especially as he is probably going to transfer all assets to his own family in order to screw the situation. Somebody, somewhere is sitting on a pile of cash and it is Sugree.

Nb. He's Thai with an ability he abuss to make money. Is that coffee I can smell?

Edited December 23, 2010 by housepainter

[OzMick]

Any offer of 10% per month is a scam. Add to this 2 investors with different versions of what they are investing in, and one of the schemes sounding decidedly dodgy.

If this is an honest man being taken for a ride, then he must be as naive as a newborn.

[pipo1000]

IT people who lauded him for his contribution to open-source developments among other technological accomplishments in Thailand.<BR sab="394"><BR sab="395">

Shouldn't that read NO SOURCE developments for his investment scam.Of course he is not guilty,as are Charles Ponzi,Bernie Madoff,Lou Pearlman,Nicholas Cosmo or Eliot Slatkin just to name a few.

[Beetlejuice]

I have no pity for those who invest in these get rich quite schemes and lose big time.

Never known one to work yet.

[buba]

If it sounds to good to be true, its not true................when will people learn.

[brahmburgers]

20 years ago, in a 'pie in the sky' part of California, I saw a bunch of people get involved with a 'gifting' scheme (or should I say 'scam'?). It was a pure pyramid thing. The boosters didn't even try to hide the fact, they even showed everyone they hustled a diagram of a pyramid - with 4 circles at the base level, then two, and then the one circle at the top. You come in on the bottom, and only have to recruit six people in order to get to the top. The scheme started at $10 a pop, but then subsequent pyramids were started within days - with $1,000, $2,000, and even $5,000 entry fees. The key to the whole thing was the word 'gifting' which was substituted for 'paying in to'.

I hope I'm not giving anyone any ideas by mentioning this, but it did work for some people - mostly those who started each pyramid, and of course, those that got in and out of it, and stayed out when they saw it about to tumble down - which it did very quickly one day - within hours, after running for weeks prior.

Lots of sad people when the manure dust cleared.

addendum: come to think of it, it sounds a lot like Wall Street.

Edited December 24, 2010 by brahmburgers

[hungryhippo]

He doesn't sound so innocent to me. From the article, it sounds as though he doesn't deny he did something wrong and he's going to bend over backwards to pay people off.

I agree with Jonesy99, Sugee is a well known guy and it's not in his character to scam people like this. It's obviously some big blunder on his part. If he says he is going to pay everyone back then I believe him.