THAILAND – JUSTICE: Influencers, celebrities and millions of bahts seized in a Forex scandal

 

Luxury cars, influencers displaying their success on social networks, offshore companies and tens of millions of bahts in cash: Thai authorities have hit a vast Forex trading network suspected of having deceived numerous investors. The investigation could also concern several personalities from the world of business, entertainment and politics.

 

The Department of Special Investigations (DSI), the Thai equivalent of the FBI for complex economic cases, announced on June 19 the results of an operation carried out simultaneously on 24 sites in Bangkok and its outskirts.

 

Baptism « Shutdown the Laundering “, this operation targeted several Forex trading platforms operating without authorization as well as a network of intermediaries responsible for recruiting investors via social networks.

 

Personalities in the viewfinder

 

According to the DSI, the investigation revealed alleged links with several well-known personalities, including influencers, actors from the world of entertainment and people involved in the creation or management of certain companies concerned.

 

The authorities have not yet revealed any names, but they believe that the notoriety of certain promoters has helped to attract many investors.

 

As in several recent cases in Thailand, the victims explain having been seduced by promises of high earnings and by the image of success displayed on social networks: sports cars, luxury watches, trips abroad and demonstrations of spectacular profits.

 

An illegal activity according to the authorities

 

Associated with the DSI’s investigations, the Bank of Thailand affirms that none of the targeted operators had official authorization to carry out a Forex brokerage activity in the kingdom. To avoid Thai regulations, those responsible for the network registered most of their platforms in offshore jurisdictions, complicating investors’ recourse and the recovery of possible lost funds.

 

According to testimonies collected by investigators, customers were sometimes able to withdraw their first winnings before finding themselves faced with additional fees, new conditions or the impossibility of getting their money back.

 

More than 65 million baht seized

 

The searches led to the seizure of more than 65 million baht in cash, several luxury cars, gold bars, cryptocurrencies, computer equipment and numerous valuable goods. The authorities also froze the bank accounts of more than 77 individuals and legal entities linked to the investigation.

 

These seizures illustrate the financial scale of the network suspected of having operated for several years.

 

Suspicions of platform manipulation

 

One of the most sensitive aspects of the case concerns suspicions of manipulation of trading systems. According to the DSI, the first technical analyzes uncovered clues suggesting that certain operators could intervene directly on the platforms used by customers, in particular by modifying certain parameters or by disrupting the execution of transactions.

 

If these suspicions are confirmed, the case would go well beyond the framework of an unauthorized financial activity to involve large-scale organized fraud.

 

An investigation that has only just begun

 

This operation is part of the Thai government’s desire to strengthen the fight against online financial scams, which have become a major concern in the country. The DSI is now continuing its investigations in order to identify all the beneficiaries of the system, to trace financial flows and to assess the real amount of losses suffered by the victims.

 

Future developments in the investigation could reveal the identity of the personalities involved and make it possible to measure the exact extent of what could become one of the most important recent financial scandals in Thailand.

 

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