Luxury cars seized, suspect arrested as B38bn Ufun scam reaches Phuket

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Luxury cars seized, suspect arrested as B38bn Ufun scam reaches Phuket
The Phuket News


One of the cars seized was an Audi A7.

PHUKET: -- Consumer Protection police from Bangkok seized luxury cars valued at B10 million at a Phuket used car lot this week and arrested the owner for suspected involvement in the notorious Ufun scheme.

To date, investigators believe Ufun may have cheated up to 120,000 members in Thailand out of an estimated B38 billion.

The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) is currently tracing 35 financial transactions from Ufun networks to 10 countries between January 2014 and April 28, 2015, said Pol Lt Col Pakorn Sucheevakun, director of the DSI’s Technology and Information Inspection Centre.

Assistant police chief Suwira Songmetta last month said that the scam had been plotted in Malaysia and spread to Australia, Britain, China, France, Germany, Guinea, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States.

In Phuket on Tuesday (July 7), Col Angkul Klaiklueng of the Royal Thai Police Consumer Protection Division led the raid on the NN used car dealership on Thepkrasattri Rd in Rassada, in front of the new bus terminal.

Officers arrested NN dealership owner Nathin Puthamrong, 42, under a warrant issued for his suspected involvement in the Ufun scheme.

He has been charged with with money laundering, fraud and involvement in an international crime network.

At the used car lot, officers seized an Audi A7 and a Mecedes-Benz. The Audi was found to be without any registration papers, and the Benz was registered to Thaychasit Prasomsap, a Ufun suspect and a former soldier who is now a wanted fugitive on the run.

Police estimated that the two cars had an estimated value of B10 million.

Natthin told police that Thaychasit had brought the car to him to sell, and that the owner of the Audi was struggling with payments, so he wanted Natthin to sell his car, too.

However, officials told reporters that their investigation had shown that Natthin had been involved with the Ufun scheme for more than two years.

Col Angkul said Nathin was one of 164 suspects wanted by police.

“So far we have arrested 30 of them. The arrest of Nathin was possible because Phuket City police helped to locate the suspect,” he said.

“We believe at least 10 suspects wanted for involvement in the Ufun case are still in Phuket, and we’ll find them.”

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/luxury-cars-seized-suspect-arrested-as-b38bn-ufun-scam-reaches-phuket-53128.php


-- Phuket News 2015-07-09

[Si Thea01]

The coppers appear to be doing their job, no criticisms or any praise posted yet. All the critics must be asleep or having a day off. If what is reported, the tentacles have certainly spread, it will take years to bring this to finalisation given the number of people and countries involved. I don't know how the scheme operated but it seems that many have been caught out, through greed and stupidity it would appear. Despite that, let's hope they get something back, the billions involved is mind boggling.

Edited July 9, 2015 by Si Thea01

[eliotness]

Agreed it's mind boggling that such a scam could be allowed to take billions of baht from people. Why didn't their house of cards come crashing down much earlier ? This has got to be the scam of all scams and it would seem rich Thais are the main victims.

[Acharn]

Agreed it's mind boggling that such a scam could be allowed to take billions of baht from people. Why didn't their house of cards come crashing down much earlier ? This has got to be the scam of all scams and it would seem rich Thais are the main victims.

If they weren't rich Thais the police wouldn't be making so much effort (I believe). I've been trying to think of the name of the woman, at least 20 years ago, who ran a classic Ponzi scheme, promising to double your money every year. Something to do with oil wells, I believe. I don't know why she didn't get out in time, but they caught her and I know she got a long jail sentence (30+ years?) because she had taken money from the wealthiest families in Thailand, and probably some with connections to the Palace, too. Hugely entertaining.