High-profile suspects behind pyramid scheme 'have left Thailand'

The couple will face public fraud charges, Suwira said.
Athiwat reportedly served as a chief international relations officer for the U-Fun company, which allegedly affected more than 100,000 people and led to more than Bt10 billion in losses.
An informed source reported that Athiwat had left Thailand last Friday, possibly for the United States, before police applied for his arrest warrant.
Suwira also commented on a report that some U-Fun members who didn’t think they had been duped had joined a social-media movement claiming the victims had already been compensated.
They reportedly sent messages that seemed to threaten U-Fun clients to stop them from filing complaints with police.
He said investigators had been gathering evidence for the case |and urged clients who had paid at least Bt17,500 to the firm to file police complaints to protect their rights.
Suwira confirmed that the police investigation into U-Fun stemmed from public complaints through the Dhamrongtham Centres that the company had not paid them promised returns.
Suwira said police also found that the company had not run a direct-sale business, as claimed, when registering for a licence.
The address of its product-manufacturing facility turned out to be only a grocery store, police said.
Four U-Fun executives were arrested last Friday on charges of embezzlement. They were Ratthawit Thiti-arunwat, 34; Chaithorn Thonglorlert, 41; Ritthidej Warong, 39; and Apichanat Saenkla, 40.