Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva submitted evidence to the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) today, allegedly implicating about a dozen Thai nationals, including a former minister and a current minister, of involvement with transnational cybercrime syndicates.
The former prime minister told the media that his action is intended to encourage AMLO to use the documents he presented to launch an investigation and to prevent the individuals implicated from transferring their ill-gotten assets to escape confiscation.
He said that the evidence he presented to AMLO includes reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Stock Exchange of Thailand, pertaining to the takeover of a listed company and a registered capital increase, as well as the names of the individuals blacklisted by the US Treasury Department for alleged connections with transnational scam syndicates.
After the US, and several other nations, started to take action against organised cybercrime operations in Cambodia, Abhisit said he has not seen any concrete action by the Thai government in dealing with the problem since Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul urged those with evidence about scam activities to come forward.
So, he said he decided to come forward today to present his evidence to AMLO. He added that he is interested in this problem, noting that he learned that the US is currently in the process of drafting a law to deal with transnational scam activities, which will empower US officials to investigate cybercrime operations outside the US.
He warned that, if the Thai government does not take concrete action now, Thailand’s image will be badly tainted if the US points at Thailand as a scam hub.
Abhisit said that part of his evidence concerns the financial transactions of a Thai energy company, which had a registered capital of only 300 baht. That was, however, increased to 600 million baht and then 7 billion baht.
He also said that it will depend on AMLO as to whether the evidence available will lead to the discovery of more people’s involvement, making clear that his action is not being taken against any individuals in particular.
In October, the US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, in close coordination with United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, took action against criminal networks responsible for targeting citizens of the US and other countries through online scams and the laundering of stolen funds.
OFAC has imposed sweeping sanctions on 146 targets within the Prince Group organisation, based in Cambodia, led by Cambodian national Chen Zhi.
