Another suspect arrested in U-Fun scam probe
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AS ONE more executive involved in U-Fun Store's alleged pyramid scheme was arrested in Nong Khai yesterday, 50 U-Fun members urged the Chiang Mai Administrative Court to hold the Consumer Protection Board responsible for the damages they sustained becaus
A member who asked not to be named said the firm brokered trade among members, so those who claimed to be damaged should step out and file police complaints so the truth could be revealed.
“We read from the media that many are affected but where are these people? The investigation should listen to both sides,” the member said.
Pol Lt-General Suwira Songmetta, assistant national police chief, said five out of 12 people wanted in this case had been arrested.
The latest – Namonpan Thara-bundit, 41, a major shareholder of U-Fun Thailand – was caught while trying to leave Thailand via Nong Khai.
Namonpan told police she had invested about Bt1 million in the scheme last year until she recouped the investment, then she heard the Consumer Protection Board was investigating the firm last October so she pulled out and told her sub-distributors to get out too.
She said she didn’t know she was wanted and was just visiting Laos for a vacation. She and her friends were later brought back to Bangkok.
Namonpan was the company's authorised person to make transfers and conducted 80 totalling Bt116 million from U-Fun to companies in Thailand in the six months from June-November last year, Suwira said.
The so-called pyramid scheme had bilked Bt20 billion out of 110,000 people so far, Suwira said.
More investigators were added to handle the extra work on this case, which involved cooperating with the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) to retrieve assets that had been transferred to other countries.
Suspect Arthit Kaewpan was a Malaysian who allegedly got a forged Thai passport before registering the firm with capital of Bt10 million, Suwira said.
Arthit was convicted by a Thai court of first instance for counterfeit goods but was released on bail, he said.
Another company, U-Fun Property capitalised at Bt1 million, was being examined to see who else was involved in the investment, so more arrest warrants were on the way.
National police Pol General Somyos Pumpanmuang has told the investigators to probe transparently and arrest all those implicated.
Police searched a house in Bangkok’s Lak Si district belonging to Lt-General Athiwat Sunpan, a retired Army officer who was named as a suspect but reportedly fled the country, and found eight title deeds and some valuables in four safes.
Four of the deeds were for parcels in Prachin Buri that were transferred to U-Fun.
Police said they would transfer the assets, believed to be connected to the scheme, to AMLO for further inspection.
AMLO secretary-general Sihanart Prayoonrat and his team joined a meeting with Suwira and U-Fun case investigators to find more assets from the U-Fun network.
Paisit Wongmuang, deputy director-general of the Department of Special Investigation, said he would call a meeting to follow up on the progress in this case and see if it should be assigned to the DSI as a special case.
