Investor notes the sheer 'glamour' of UFUN trading

[webfact]

Investor notes the sheer 'glamour' of UFUN trading
Pantipa Jittrawudtiporn
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- THE VALUE of U-Tokens traded and earned among members of the controversial UFUN Thailand investment scheme can be volatile and varying like Buddha amulets, depending on demand and the number of members, an investor has said.

Defending his investment in UFUN Thailand, Weerawit Kengkajphaisal said "the glamour" of managing his account was that the value would increase when there was an increase in members.

"Like Buddha amulets when they are newly produced their [the U-Token] value is minimal, but increases when having |more UFUN members creates high demand for them," he |said.

Weerawit likens a UFUN investment to using coupons in food courts that were bought with real money.

He said UFUN members were required to contribute 10 per cent of their total investment value on management of the token fund through both an online UBT Mall trade and an offline U-Barter operation.

Members could trade U-Tokens with other U-Tokens or with actual products, ranging from expensive items such as homes, cars and land plots to handbags, watches and shoes, he added.

For the U-Barter exchange, members were required to pay 0.1-1 per cent for each trade to UFUN management.

Weerawit said a key factor that made investments increase was the UFUN policy that U-Tokens were not traded with other tokens or products at lower values.

He said UFUN investments comprised three modern business formats - e-commerce, digital tokens and network marketing - with members making profits through their mutual agreements to trade among themselves.

With these conditions and UFUN's policy against trading U-Tokens at lower values, this made an investment increase based on both its virtual |value and its monetary value when traded with actual products.

The Department of Special Investigation has handed over the UFUN case to police. More than 200 UFUN investors have filed complaints with police.

Before a crackdown on UFUN Thailand, the Finance Ministry submitted a report late last year to the DSI about its legitimacy.

There are reportedly more than 30,000 Thai UFUN investors who have paid billions of baht in membership fees.

A senior DSI official, Worranan Srilam, said several illegitimate investments based on multi-level marketing, or a pyramid scheme similar to the UFUN investment, had been suppressed in Thailand.

Worranan said those schemes had used products ranging from funeral funding to noodles as the front median in barters or tokens to attract members.

He said an investment continued as long as there were new

members taking part at the base of the pyramid.

They realise they have been conned when people stop applying to become members, or when |top-line members or the management halt the operations and, |in most cases, flee with their money.

"It's difficult to persuade new members to come to the realisation that they are part of a fraudulent investment until it's too late," he said.

The DSI has handled 99 pyramid-scheme cases in the past 11 years, 75 of which were completed. Worranan said there were another 50 cases being investigated by the DSI to determine if they became special cases.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Investor-notes-the-sheer-glamour-of-UFUN-trading-30258882.html


-- The Nation 2015-04-28

[halloween]

U tokens are like Buddha amulets, their value depending on demand, but inherent value approaching Sweet Fanny Adams.

[jerojero]

I guess UFUN now ain't so much fun. How glamorous is prison or losing millions because of greed expecting enormous returns on investment.

[clockman]

Greed, is the Thai mantra!

[robblok]

Greed, is the Thai mantra!

Who caused the global crisis with their greed.. those were Americans.

EVERY country has greedy people including my own.

[Ricardo]

U tokens are like Buddha amulets, their value depending on demand, but inherent value approaching Sweet Fanny Adams.

But ... but ... they can be exchanged at-par for San Fairy Ann, too !

[connda]

/Parody switch on

...and I have a glamorous Bridge over the River Kwai that I'd be happy to let you have for a small investment of 50M THB. Now, this bridge is a glamorous hot commodity and is up for grabs, so don't delay a minute!!! Act now. Just wire a small down payment of 250K THB to the following:

Nigerian Bank of the Deep Congo

Routing Number: 2847459303-409A-42

Account Number: 300080tictictic39993

Account Holder: The Glamorous Colonel Nicholson

Lock in this 'Buy of the Century' today, and we'll thow in a glamorous DVD of the original movie signed by the glamorous movie icon, Sir Alec Guiness himself. Act today, don't wait. Cash out your UFUN profits and invest in this glamorous historic treasure today!!!

....what? UFUN is what? Busted? Really? How unglamorous! Nevermind.....


/Parody switch off

[connda]

My sister-in-law invested in it. Believe it or not, she is still 'Drinking the Kool-aid'. She's telling my wife they are still solvent, everyone is still invested, the whole legal thing is being cooked up by jealous people who didn't get to invest early enough, etc etc etc. If I had zero ethics and wanted to start a ponzi, think gifting for example, she'd be my first mark client. But my parent raised me not to be a crook. I had my butt beat after stealing something from a kid in school when I was about 8. I still remember it. Lasting impression - in my mind and probably on my butt. As such, I developed a moral compass early in life. Anyway, my sis-in-law...My god, what a fool.

PT Barnum would have loved her! Lol

Edited April 28, 2015 by connda

[ratcatcher]

Greed, is the Thai mantra!

Who caused the global crisis with their greed.. those were Americans.

EVERY country has greedy people including my own.

[KonaRain]

Re: #5

London Whale, HSBC, etc.

Aloha

[Ricardo]

/Parody switch on

...and I have a glamorous Bridge over the River Kwai that I'd be happy to let you have for a small investment of 50M THB. Now, this bridge is a glamorous hot commodity and is up for grabs, so don't delay a minute!!! Act now. Just wire a small down payment of 250K THB to the following:

Nigerian Bank of the Deep Congo

Routing Number: 2847459303-409A-42

Account Number: 300080tictictic39993

Account Holder: The Glamorous Colonel Nicholson

Lock in this 'Buy of the Century' today, and we'll thow in a glamorous DVD of the original movie signed by the glamorous movie icon, Sir Alec Guiness himself. Act today, don't wait. Cash out your UFUN profits and invest in this glamorous historic treasure today!!!

....what? UFUN is what? Busted? Really? How unglamorous! Nevermind.....

/Parody switch off

As soon as your down-payment clears, I will send my private-jet to pick you up from your local airport, so that we can make a complimentary free-visit to inspect your new bridge in-person.

P.S. Please send me another B100k, as your contribution towards the fuel-costs & landing-fees, same bank-account details !