Celebrity couple among six indicted over Forex-3D Ponzi scheme

The celebrity couple is Pattanapon “DJ Man” Minthakhin and his singer-wife Suteewan “Baitoey” Thaweesin, while the other four suspects are Chatchai Kochatin, Teepatsakorn Kimwangtako, Suranat Nakmusik and Ayuwat Chaimethanarakul.

The celebrity couple showed up at the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) on Tuesday to face charges of colluding to obtain loans to defraud, public fraud and inputting false information into a computer system in violation of the Computer Crime Act.

Their offences are also considered to be in violation of the emergency decree to control fraudulent borrowing, a statement from the OAG said.

The six suspects have been taken to Criminal Court for legal proceedings.

In 2019, the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) summoned the celebrity couple to clarify their connection with Apiruk Kothi, the owner of Forex-3D, who is accused of a multi-billion-baht fraud. Apiruk was arrested in Bangkok in 2021 after spending more than a year on the run.

The flashy Forex-3D website claimed to be an online dealer in foreign exchange but was unlicensed and operated as a Ponzi scheme. Celebrities were paid to promote it.