Thai Actress Acquitted In 2.4 Billion Baht Forex Fraud Case

Thai actress cleared in 2.4 billion baht Forex-3D fraud caseLegacy Thailand’s Criminal Court has acquitted actress Savika Chaiyadej, her mother Sarinya and her brother Kittichet in the Forex-3D fraud case. The ruling, handed down yesterday, August 13, comes almost four years after prosecutors filed charges on August 18, 2022. The case, Black 853/2564, was brought by the Office of the Attorney General’s Special Case Prosecution Division 4 against Apirak Kotthi, two linked companies, Savika and her family, and others, totalling 24 defendants. The charges covered joint borrowing amounting to public fraud and offences under the Computer Crimes Act. Prosecutors alleged that between November 24, 2015 and September 8, 2020, the group deceived the public through the Forex-3D website and Facebook page, claiming a professional team traded client funds in the foreign exchange market and guaranteeing 100% of the principal with no losses. In reality, no trading took place. The court found the company had never been licensed by the Bank of Thailand, and that the scheme instead used new investors’ money to pay returns to earlier investors, a Ponzi-style structure, with a large number of nominee bank accounts used to obscure the money trail. About 9,822 people invested a combined 2.489 billion baht in the scheme. The court found that Apirak and the group’s core leadership had genuinely engaged in the deception. Five individuals were convicted and sentenced to five years in prison for each of the 9,822 counts against them, a total of 49,110 years each, capped by law at the maximum of 20 years served. The five are Apirak, platform programmer Supinyo Meesomprat, Apirak’s personal secretary Natthee (also known as Warit), records custodian Thassiwan Chantharanukul, and Apirak’s wife, Pakamon Seelun. Two companies linked to the case, RMS Family Co., Ltd. and Mee Dee Pay Co., Ltd., were fined a combined 4.911 billion baht. RMS Family is represented by Kittichet (also known as Sarayuth) Chaiyadej, Savika’s brother, in his capacity as the company’s representative; this is separate from his personal acquittal as an individual defendant. The defendants found responsible were also ordered to repay victims in full with statutory interest. For Savika, her mother and her brother, the court examined their financial records and found more than 40 million baht in circulating funds, along with a close relationship with Apirak dating from before the company was founded. Savika Chaiyadej | Photo via Thairath It concluded this was consistent with genuine investment returns and with Savika’s income as an actress, rather than a fabricated portfolio, and found no evidence the three had solicited others to invest. The court gave them the benefit of the doubt and acquitted them along with other unconnected defendants, acquitting 19 people in total. According to reporters in the courtroom, Savika, her mother and her brother embraced after the acquittal was read. One of the convicted defendants, the programmer, was reported to have cried after his sentence was read. Savika, defendant number seven, was free on 5 million baht bail during the trial, while other defendants were held in custody. She told a Thairath reporter after the verdict that she was relieved by the ruling, and said she would go to collect her mother and brother from prison. As of publication, no public statement has been issued by Apirak. Other defendants tied to the Forex-3D case have been tried separately, including singer Pattanapon “DJ Man” Kunchon and his wife, singer Sutheewan “Baitoey” Thaweesin, who were acquitted by the Criminal Court on December 26, 2024. That ruling is currently under consideration by the Appeal Court. The story Thai actress cleared in 2.4 billion baht Forex-3D fraud case as seen on Thaiger News.