Man accused of duping millions in stock fraud
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Police yesterday announced the arrest of Panasan Somchevita, the 33-year-old son of a former permanent secretary for the ICT Ministry, after 21 people accused him of duping them out of Bt281 million in an alleged stock scam.
Police spokesman Lt-Gen Prawut Thavornsiri told a press conference that police filed a complaint of public fraud against Panasan with the Crime Suppression Division on Wednesday.
Prawut said police then obtained an arrest warrant and Panasan was apprehended in Phetchaburi’s Muang district on Thursday.
He said the suspect told his alleged victims he had about one million shares in initial public offerings for three well-known companies.
After being told the stock could be bought at a par price for hefty profit, the alleged victims said they transferred money to Panasan’s account. They allege that Panasan began avoiding them and when they suspected they had been conned, they complained to police.
Prawut claimed Panasan had admitted to the alleged fraud, and that he had used money given to him to fund his own stock trading – something he had done up to three times previously.
Police are investigating to determine if he had any accomplices.
Prawut said Panasan told police he would pay compensation to the aggrieved parties.
The alleged crime took place between November 11 and December 3.
Panasan is the son of Sunthad Somchevita who served as a Special Case Committee member at the Department of Special Investigation.
Police took Panasan to Ratchadapisek Criminal Court yesterday morning to apply for an initial 12 days in detention, which will run until December 17.
Police objected to him being released on bail on grounds that there were many aggrieved parties, and the monetary value of the alleged offence was very high, he had adversely affected the economy, and he was a flight risk.
Panasan, however, denied all the charges against him.
