Three Defendants in Thai Ponzi Scheme Forex-3D Sentenced to 49,125 Years Each

The Criminal Court of Thailand sentenced three men to 49,125 years each for their roles in the multi-billion-baht Forex-3D Ponzi scheme, while acquitting four others. The seven defendants involved in the case are Singaporean Daryl Cai Yonghui; Thai celebrity Pattanapon “DJ Man” Kunjara; Thai singer Suteewan “Baitoey” Thaweesin; Chatchai “Sue” Khotchathin; Theeraphassakorn “Mark” Kimwangtako; Suranart Nakmusik; and Ayuwat Chaimethanarakul. 

They were charged with colluding in obtaining loans to defraud, public fraud, and inputting false information into a computer system related to the Forex-3D scheme. Between November 25, 2015, and September 8, 2020, the defendants lured 9,824 people into investing a total of 2.49 billion baht in the Forex-3D foreign exchange group through Facebook. 

The court found Mr. Chatchai, Mr. Theeraphassakorn, and Mr. Suranart guilty, sentencing them to 49,125 years each for 9,825 offenses, but the law caps their total prison time at 20 years each. They were also ordered to pay 2.47 billion baht in restitution to all 9,825 victims, plus 7.5% annual interest starting from April 11, 2021.

The Forex-3D scheme falsely promised high returns to defraud people and was orchestrated by Apirak Kothi, who was arrested in January 2021.