The damages caused by Ufun Store's transnational Ponzi scheme are likely to be considerably higher than previously thought, police said yesterday.
Anti-Money Laundering Office chief Sihanart Prayoonrat inspects one of 14 luxury cars which are among items confiscated from a Ponzi scheme involving Ufun Store Co during a handover of assets by police yesterday. Somchai Poomlard
Pol Lt Gen Suwira Songmeta, an assistant national police chief, said damages are estimated to be as high as 38 billion baht.
The Ufun Store scam has allegedly swindled 120,000 people, and more victims are coming forward to file complaints with police.
Pol Lt Gen Suwira was speaking yesterday after he held talks on the alleged scam with Department of Special Investigation (DSI) chief Suwana Suwanjuta. Her agency has also been looking into the case.
Last week, a group of 110 victims, who said they were lured into doing business with Ufun, lodged complaints with police against the company, claiming the executives deceived them out of 35 million baht.
Pol Lt Gen Suwira said Malaysian police helped their Thai counterparts track down Dato Daniel Tay, an executive of Ufun Store.
Mr Tay denied the company conducted its business in a fraudulent manner.
He told reporters at a media briefing in Malaysia last week that Ufun operated legally and has members in more than 80 countries globally.
Mr Tay said he would abide by Thai law, co-operate with Thai officers and provide any information required to prove the company's innocence.
Ufun's senior executive is reportedly scheduled to speak to reporters at a briefing in Malaysia today to clarify how Ufun's business operations have been working.
Pol Lt Gen Suwira confirmed yesterday that, although Ufun's website is operating as usual, the company's operating licence has been revoked in Thailand.
The website is being used by police to provide the company's victims with compensation from the sale of Ufun's assets.
A preliminary investigation found suspect Arthit Pankaew, another Ufun executive, is in fact Chinese. His real name is Zhang Jian.
Mr Zhang, who entered Thailand in 2009, is wanted by Chinese officers for fraud. He allegedly fled to Vietnam.