The Criminal Court has rejected the Department of Special Investigation (DSI)’s application for arrest warrants against 22 suspects, including People’s Party MP Pawoot Pongvitayapanu, for alleged involvement in forex trading fraud.
The court based its decision on the grounds that the suspects have permanent residences in the kingdom and can be summoned for questioning at any time by the DSI, in line with normal procedure.
The DSI sought warrants for the arrests of 30 individuals, including Pawoot, on charges of defrauding the public and violations of the Computer Crime Act. Only two warrants were issued for cases for which the court found there is sufficient evidence against the two suspects.
It is reported that the court exercised extra caution in considering the DSI’s request for the warrants to prevent the court from being used for political motives.
The People’s party has complained that the charges against Pawoot were politically motivated, after the embattled MP raised questions over the Digital Economy and Society Ministry’s 1.6 billion baht controversial ‘TH-AI Passport’, intended to educate Thai people in AI technology.
Today, the DSI announced the arrest of one of the two suspects, against whom warrants were issued by the court.
The suspect, Thiraphong Khong Kaew, was detained by immigration and DSI officials as he arrived at Suvarnabhumi international airport today from Dubai. He was then taken to the DSI office in the government complex on Chaeng Wattana Road.
DSI officials claims that Thiraphong is one of the ‘Introducing Broker’ team responsible for providing training to potential investors interested in forex trading.
Thiraphong’s lawyer, Amorn Kusol, pleaded with the media not to interview his client, saying that he had been authorised to speak on his behalf. He said that his client is willing to cooperate with the DSI and denies all the charges against him.
He also said that he was surprised that the DSI found it necessary to seek an arrest warrant.
