Agencies sign on to tackle scammers

PYRAMID SCHEMES

Agencies sign on to tackle scammers

Agreement will see more effective action against rogue businesses

Published on December 7, 2007

Ajoint agreement to tackle pyramid schemes and other organised crimes was signed yesterday by government agencies responsible for consumer protection and prevention of public fraud.

The agencies involved are the Consumer Protection Board, Royal Thai Police, Department of Special Inves-tigation and the Anti-Money Laundering Office at the Justice Ministry, plus the Finance Ministry.

PM's Office Mi-nister Dhipavadee Meksawan will oversee joint operations under the agreement.

At a ceremony for the signing of the agreement, Khunying Dhipavadee said the main objective was to deal more effectively with investment deals that were deemed questionable, such as the alleged pyramid schemes now being investigated by police (Easy Network Marketing and Bangkok Noodles).

"The joint agreement will enable government agencies to respond to the problems quickly and immediately, both after complaints are lodged or even before those business operations inflict damage on innocent investors or franchisees," she said.

Consumer Protection Board secretary-general Rassamee Wisthawate said there were many pyramid schemes in operation and some used mass media to con the public.

Groups which were not officially registered were more worrying, as they could evade arrest or action by the authorities after inflicting damage on innocent investors. And getting them to repay funds cheated off others was more difficult, she said.

The Consumer Protection Board will be the centre of efforts to counter such scams, as it receives complaints about suspicious business operations.

The Royal Thai Police would take action when crimes are detected or laws suspected to have been violated, even if there was no concrete evidence of cheating.

The Finance Ministry would coordinate with the Bank of Thailand to inspect money transactions or order a freeze on suspects' bank accounts, she said.

In Nakhon Phanom and other provinces in the Northeast, other pyramid schemes are spreading and gaining attention from locals. One is operated via websites and investors are told they do not have to sell anything or physically meet people to make money.

Under this scheme, based in Singapore and operating in several countries in East and Southeast Asia, a person pays Bt6,300 as an entry fee and another Bt27,900 for membership.

They are promised US$100 (Bt3,000) every week, which can be traded for cash or a Mercedes or a BMW when the amount reaches US$10,000.

A second investment scam requires people to invest Bt13,500 and promises to pay each member Bt540 a month until the amount reaches Bt188,800.

A larger-scale operation promises Bt2,592,000 in return for an investment fee of Bt67,500.

The Nation