Deputy Transport Minister Manaporn Charoensri has admitted that she is the person, referred to as “M” by the Palang Pracharath party in allegations of involvement in the business of iCon Group, but has denied having any connection with the beleaguered e-commerce company.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Manaporn claimed that another person referred to as “M” by the opposition party, is Mana Lohavanich, chair of the House committee on consumer protection, while her own position is chair of a subcommittee on consumer protection.
The deputy minister, a Pheu Thai party MP, claimed that, on December 12 last year, a group of people from Chon Buri filed a complaint with the House committee, stating that they each paid about 200,000 baht to become sale agents of iCon Group to sell toothpaste. They were promised delivery of 1,500 packs of toothpaste each, but actually received only 50 each.
The group of investors also said that they had filed a complaint with the Office of Consumer Protection Board, but there has been no progress in the case at all.
In her capacity as chair of the subcommittee, Manaporn said she invited representatives of the investors and the iCon Group to meet with her, in order to settle the conflict and to urge the company to compensate the investors.
She also claimed that her panel had instructed the Office of the Consumer Protection Board to investigate whether the toothpaste was up to the required standard, adding that the conflict was settled, with the company agreeing to compensate the investors and the investors agreeing to withdraw their complaint.
She said that this is how she ended up being accused of having links to the iCon Group by the Palang Pracharath party, adding that she does not personally know any of the company’s executives, including its CEO.
