Police crack down over Bt10-bn 'pyramid scam'

[Lite Beer]

Police crack down over Bt10-bn 'pyramid scam'
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Three arrests made and warrants also issued for some foreigners; Bt250m assets seized

POLICE YESTERDAY arrested three people after a series of raids in Bangkok over an alleged scam that duped more than 100,000 people involving some Bt10 billion.

Police seized Bt250 million worth of assets yesterday and said the raids were linked to a company, U-Fun Store, whose manager Ritthidej Warong, 39, was nabbed in Kannayao district. He rejected the allegation.

U-fun Store was registered as a direct sales marketing company but was allegedly involved in pyramid schemes.

Police confiscated documents and some other items belonging to him as part of their investigation.

A second man arrested yesterday has been identified as Rathawit Thiti-arounwat. He was arrested in Chiang Mai while travelling to a Bangkok seminar to promote his business shortly after a raid on his home in the capital.

The search of Rathawit's house unearthed many luxury items including Rolex watches as well as Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Porches cars.

The third person was identified as Chaithorn Thonglorlert, 41, who was arrested at a Bang Na complex. Officials seized a number of land title deeds and foreign currency documents.

Chaithorn told police that he was just a driver for a foreigner known as Daniel Dato, an executive of the U-Fun company.

Pol Lt-General Suwira Songmetta, assistant to the chief of the Royal Thai Police, said police and the Office of the Consumer Protection Board (OCPB) had received a lot of complaints about the company.

A court has issued arrest warrants for a number of people, including foreigners who are believed to be involved in the alleged scam, he said.

People wanted under the warrants are Tay Kim Leng, 40, Lee Kuan Ming, 38, and Wong Sing Hlia. Three of them are Malaysian.

Suwira said Thai nationals Arthit Pankaew and Apichanat Saenkla were also wanted in connection with the alleged scam.

These people mobilised investments from the public for U-Fun, which claimed to directly sell cosmetic and drink products but the products did not exist, it is alleged.

The company collected money from victims and gave them a little return initially in order to get them to expand their investment in the business, it is alleged.

Police said the company had duped more than 100,000 people and had a turnover of more than Bt10 billion.

According to police, the true owner of the company is Arthit, who is still on the run, while Ritthidej was his nominee to run the business.

Arthit set up U-Fun Store and U-Fun Property (Thailand), a property broker business, according to Suwira, adding that the U-Fun group was run outside Thailand by a group of Malaysian nationals.

OCPB secretary-general Amphon Wongsiri said the U-Fun group mobilised investments through the website www.u-fun-u-token.com, www.youtube.com and many other avenues including via direct contact by its agents.

The company would tell its clients to invest money and they would get a regular return in accordance with the proportion of the investment, Amphon said.

The investors had a choice of investments - from a minimum one-star worth US$500 (Bt 17,500) up to five stars worth $50,000 (Bt 1.75 million), he said. The company had another "product", an artificial financial instrument called UTOKEN, he said.

According to Amphon, the company did not have any real products on the market although it was registered as a direct-selling company that sought clients and networking. There were intensive seminars and training course for members on how to bring investors into the business, rather than talking about products and market, he said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Police-crack-down-over-Bt10-bn-pyramid-scam-30257870.html

-- The Nation 2015-04-11

[Strangebrew]

There is another Farang from California running same scam been advertising on craigslist But got seriously pissed when I called him on it. Hope they bust him too.

[Strangebrew]

Simple rule to follow if it sounds to good to bet true then it is scam.

[ezzra]

I really would put the blame to those scams on the Egyptian Pharaohs, they started it all....

without those pyramids all this wouldn't happened...

Edited April 11, 2015 by ezzra

[Gsxrnz]

This schemes been around for a few years and I wondered when it was eventually going to get rumbled. Essentially they had visions of becoming the new Bitcoin with their U-Token.

They've grown significantly all over Asia, but essentially looks like a Ponzi scheme. I wonder what triggered the BIB to raid them? Maybe an influential copper made and investment and was having trouble getting his money back.

I wonder if their so called International President (a certain Lt. General in the Thai military) is enjoying his morning coffee today.

[theguyfromanotherforum]

What about stock market scam?

[Lite Beer]

Bangkok: – Police yesterday conducted a raid at the office of UFun Store located on Ramintra 61 Road and shut down the company’s pyramid scheme.

Reacting to complaints filed at Damrong Tham Centre, police have sought and received the court-approved warrants of arrest for eight executives, comprising three Malaysian nationals and five Thais.

The money laundering authorities have impounded 250 million baht as suspected ill-gotten gains from defrauding the public involving 14,700 victims.

Three Malaysian suspects are Tay Kim Leng, 41, Lee Kuan Ming, 38 and Won Sing Hlia, 42.

The five Thai suspects are Arthit Pankaew, 47, Apichanat Saenkla, 40, Ratthawit Thitiarunwat, 34, Chaithorn Thonglolert, 41 and Rithidet Warong, 39.

During the raid, Rithidet, who holds 51 equity stakes in the company, was present. Police took him into custody pending the remand hearing.

National police assistant commissioner general Lt General Suwira Songmetta said the company was registered for direct sale.

But in practice, the company was the front for the scam because there was no genuine business transaction, Suwira said.

Online customers fell prey to the pyramid scheme by agreeing to pay the fee of 17,000 per membership. Then the members of the scheme would make illusory transaction with one another and their recruited newcomers based on an online currency called utoken.

After uncovering evidence of defrauding the public, the authorities revoked the company’s registration on Wednesday ahead of yesterday’s raid.

Following the raid, police seized financial records and a large number of documents as evidence.

In his statement, Rithidet denied the fraud charges, saying his company acted as an online market place for customers to buy and sell their products directly to one another.

The offence for defrauding the public is penalised by imprisonment from five to 10 years and a fine between 500,000 baht to one million baht.

Source: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/816544-police-raid-and-shut-down-a-pyramid-scheme/

-- © thaivisa.com

[maidee]

land of fake

we have a fake product and giving you a mega return

eyes filled with greed, the brain switch off

som nam na

or is it : som tam now for breakfast, lunch & dinner

[Oziex1]

I really would put the blame to those scams on the Egyptian Pharaohs, they started it all....

without those pyramids all this wouldn't happened...

And it seems these scams have the same lifespan as the pyramids.

[Lee4Life]

Sounds like Amway to me! The first thing they tell you is that it is not a pyramid scheme, then they get out their white board and draw a pyramid with some rich guy at the top.

[Barin]

I really would put the blame to those scams on the Egyptian Pharaohs, they started it all....

without those pyramids all this wouldn't happened...

And it seems these scams have the same lifespan as the pyramids.

Yes, normally not over 5 or 6 years.

You are right.

[Estrada]

I went to an investors meeting of U-Fun, U-Token group at the Maple Hotel Bangna on 26th to 27th July last year. U-Token is a competitor to Bitcoin. On investigation I believed that this was a pyramid scheme and warned my friends and family not to join U-Fun and U-Token. However, they went ahead even despite their quoted Malaysian partner, Bina Puri Holdings pulling out of their JV to build Bangkok Marina and Spa and disassociating themselves with the scheme. Bina Puri had re...jected this news release and sent a legal of protest to UFUN Group to refrain them from informing their customers that Bina Puri is a joint venture partner for the “Utokens” promotion. My friends still invested in U-Token and U-Fun telling me about how much money they were accumulating in U-Tokens. They also pointed out that the fact that the company had an Army General as a figure head, that their money was safe. Indeed, according to the Thai News media a year ago, the General was interviewed by a Government Agency as it had been reported as Ponzi Scheme scam. However, the agency allowed them to continue trading so that many more Baht Billions have been accumulated. Looks like my friends are going to lose their shirts.

[Anthony5]

This country is flooded with similar shops.

[StefanBBK]

Simple rule to follow if it sounds to good to bet true then it is scam.

what was that saying "you can't cheat an honest man..."

[soalbundy]

Obviously a scam that the police weren't yet in on

[alfalfa19]

Really no shortage of suckers out there, it seems. For a good chuckle, have a look at their FB page.

[Bluespunk]

So that's why the police were all over the place here yesterday.

They've been here for over a year now. At start always had loads of people around visiting the office at weekends, almost like tour parties. Lots of photographs being taken, everyone dressed up to the nines.

Them during the week nothing.

Lately they've taken to blocking the pavement with a cafe on Saturdays and Sundays. Pain in the ass.

Complained but was told cant do anything.

Looks like I complained about the wrong thing. Still guess they'll be gone now.

Good riddance. I won't miss them.

Edited April 11, 2015 by Bluespunk

[yaudah]

never learning ? quickly to forget ?

Mae Chamoy Thipyaso, the Thailand wife of a senior officer from the Royal Thai Air Force, founded an investment firm by the name Mae Chamoy Funds. The woman used the infamous Ponzi scheme in order to trick a large number of investors. Nearly half a century after Charles Ponzi was caught cheating with the scheme Thipyaso and seven accomplices thought they could trick investors with the notorious pyramid scheme. However, they didn’t manage to get away with it and in July 1989 Thipyaso and the seven other schemers were sentenced all to a total of 141,078 years behind bars. In comparison to Ponzi and his 17 years in jail Thipyaso and her accomplices didn’t manage to get easily out of their situation.
By the time they were caught and sentenced at a court in Bangkok, Thailand, they had tricked over 16,000 Thais and had built a system worth $204 million at that time.

[lvr181]

The only fast safe buck is the one you earn honestly yourself (lottery winnings aside).

[Gunna]

Certainly is a Pyramid-Ponzi scheme

[anon467367354]

I think there is some confusion to this article...

U-Fun is not the issue, it's a small group that has been creating "stores" where you can spend your U-Fun money.

U-Fun was investigated by the Thai government and even publicly apologized to U-Fun for not being a scam.

U-Tokens are virtual currency like Bitcoin, but more of a way to spend the mutual stock in certain companies.

What U-Fun does is invest in mutuals in various Chinese companies and the U-tokens are the shares and rather than

going through a brokerage firm to get your money, you can use your U-Tokens. It's actually quite brilliant.

I am not sure from this article that U-Fun is in trouble, but to me it looks like a group of people has been scamming people

to use their U-Tokens at virtual stores that don't exist.

There is not pyramid to U-Fun, you can invest by buying U-Tokens and when the stock in the companies they invest in go up

so do your earnings. If you want to promote U-Fun, you can and make commissions as you're getting paid like a broker would

for finding investors.

Just a note, I am not an investor with U-Fun, but I have researched it as I know many that are. Cheers!

[anon467367354]

Certainly is a Pyramid-Ponzi scheme

this looks to me like any corporation and/or government.

If "kumari" cannot make more than any of those "above" him or her, then it would probably constitute a pyramid,

but I'm not sure that's the case as if "kumari" invested more than one above him or her, "kumari" would be earning

more than those said above.

[apalink_thailand]

I've been getting emails lately from a "pump-and-dump" stock scammer with the domain name of assetallocation.biz. Even though I called him out on his game, he keeps emailing me regardless. Scum.

[Shiver]

A pyramid and a ponzi are not necessarily the same thing.

If you go to 7-Eleven and buy a product, there is a pyramid structure behind that supply chain. That does not make it a ponzi, where the product is nothing more than the transfer of wealth on a greater fool basis.

Bitcoin has almost nothing in common with U-Tokens. There's a whole book to write on that, but as Satoshi once wrote "if you don't understand it, I don't have time to explain it to you".

[Bluespunk]

I think there is some confusion to this article...

U-Fun is not the issue, it's a small group that has been creating "stores" where you can spend your U-Fun money.

U-Fun was investigated by the Thai government and even publicly apologized to U-Fun for not being a scam.

U-Tokens are virtual currency like Bitcoin, but more of a way to spend the mutual stock in certain companies.

What U-Fun does is invest in mutuals in various Chinese companies and the U-tokens are the shares and rather than

going through a brokerage firm to get your money, you can use your U-Tokens. It's actually quite brilliant.

I am not sure from this article that U-Fun is in trouble, but to me it looks like a group of people has been scamming people

to use their U-Tokens at virtual stores that don't exist.

There is not pyramid to U-Fun, you can invest by buying U-Tokens and when the stock in the companies they invest in go up

so do your earnings. If you want to promote U-Fun, you can and make commissions as you're getting paid like a broker would

for finding investors.

Just a note, I am not an investor with U-Fun, but I have researched it as I know many that are. Cheers!

The u fun store by me and the condo close by both had police all around yesterday. The doors and security gates of the shop/building they occupy have been padlocked and chained up.

Best of all, the cafe they recently opened there is also shut up and they are no longer cooking the food for it on the pavement.

Edited April 11, 2015 by Bluespunk

[anon467367354]

I think there is some confusion to this article...

U-Fun is not the issue, it's a small group that has been creating "stores" where you can spend your U-Fun money.

U-Fun was investigated by the Thai government and even publicly apologized to U-Fun for not being a scam.

U-Tokens are virtual currency like Bitcoin, but more of a way to spend the mutual stock in certain companies.

What U-Fun does is invest in mutuals in various Chinese companies and the U-tokens are the shares and rather than

going through a brokerage firm to get your money, you can use your U-Tokens. It's actually quite brilliant.

I am not sure from this article that U-Fun is in trouble, but to me it looks like a group of people has been scamming people

to use their U-Tokens at virtual stores that don't exist.

There is not pyramid to U-Fun, you can invest by buying U-Tokens and when the stock in the companies they invest in go up

so do your earnings. If you want to promote U-Fun, you can and make commissions as you're getting paid like a broker would

for finding investors.

Just a note, I am not an investor with U-Fun, but I have researched it as I know many that are. Cheers!

The u fun store by me and the condo close by both had police all around yesterday. The doors and security gates of the shop/building they occupy have been padlocked and chained up.

Best of all, the cafe they recently opened there is also shut up and they are no longer cooking the food for it on the pavement.

Right, it sounds like it's not U-Fun but the fake stores where people are spending their U-Tokens

[joshstiles]

you twits got it all wrong as usual...

its not a pyramid

its a "trapazoid"

as my ignorant sister in law puts it defending this sort of business

she's in Unicity...ever hear of it?

30000b gets you in the door

you can pay me...i'll give her the money and sign you up...hurry, you want to be on the top of the trapazoid....theres still room!!!

come one come all

[Bluespunk]

I think there is some confusion to this article...

U-Fun is not the issue, it's a small group that has been creating "stores" where you can spend your U-Fun money.

U-Fun was investigated by the Thai government and even publicly apologized to U-Fun for not being a scam.

U-Tokens are virtual currency like Bitcoin, but more of a way to spend the mutual stock in certain companies.

What U-Fun does is invest in mutuals in various Chinese companies and the U-tokens are the shares and rather than

going through a brokerage firm to get your money, you can use your U-Tokens. It's actually quite brilliant.

I am not sure from this article that U-Fun is in trouble, but to me it looks like a group of people has been scamming people

to use their U-Tokens at virtual stores that don't exist.

There is not pyramid to U-Fun, you can invest by buying U-Tokens and when the stock in the companies they invest in go up

so do your earnings. If you want to promote U-Fun, you can and make commissions as you're getting paid like a broker would

for finding investors.

Just a note, I am not an investor with U-Fun, but I have researched it as I know many that are. Cheers!

The u fun store by me and the condo close by both had police all around yesterday. The doors and security gates of the shop/building they occupy have been padlocked and chained up.

Best of all, the cafe they recently opened there is also shut up and they are no longer cooking the food for it on the pavement.

Right, it sounds like it's not U-Fun but the fake stores where people are spending their U-Tokens

Possibly, I don't know, but it was a fairly substantial building they took over.

Even got their own 'directions to' road sign indicating where the store was.

As I said earlier, used to have a lot of dressed up people walking around, given the tour and fed at weekends.

Whatever, it's gone now.

;-}

[laobali]

Simple rule to follow if it sounds to good to bet true then it is scam.

Sounds simple, but not everyone has the same idea of what is "too good to be true". That's why these scams can work until they're exposed.

[FangFerang]

There is a good reason why there is no national registration for cars and motorcycles. The elite bring their cars in from Vietnam and Laos, and avoid the tax (100%). And these people are all friends of the junta.

Get over it. Here comes the old boss, same as the old boss, but he's not Thaksin, and that makes ALL the difference.

Anti-corruption my ass. It's all "anti-corruption for my enemies"