PUBLISHED: 25 May 2024 at 18:24
A key suspect in the 10-billion-baht UFun pyramid scheme was recently arrested at Don Mueang airport as he tried enter the country, according to the Consumer Protection Police Division ( CPPD).
Neo Ong, 42, administrative of UFun, was wanted on an arrest warrant issued by the Criminal Court on June 25, 2015, for allegedly colluding to scam, engaging in electronic funds business without sanction and being involved in a multinational legal entity.
Authorities had learned that the assume may enter the country on May 23. As a result, the believe was detained at an immigration station at Don Mueang aircraft and brought to the CPPD office for further questioning.
In January, the woman an a UFun administrative was arrested in Si Sa Ket after nearly 10 years on the run.
She faced two subpoenas issued by the court on June 23, 2015, and Jan 6, 2016, for supposedly colluding in international crime, common fraud and money laundering.
The incident surfaced in early 2015 after many people filed complaints with authorities about being duped into investing an a system operated by UFun, which was registered to run as a direct-sales business.
According to the police, the firm lured victims by telling them to invest in a factory that would manufacture UFun merchandise, promising high returns.
The network later duped people into investing in U-Tokens, a fraudulent cryptocurrency, and product purchases, causing 10 billion baht in damages, police said.
In 2017 the Criminal Court handed down jail terms ranging from 12,255 to 12,267 years to 22 defendants, including mastermind Apichanat Saenkla and gay rights advocate Natee Teerarojanapong.
However, the actual imprisonment under the law would be a maximum of 20 and 50 years each.