Thai polices arrests four in alleged pyramid scheme ‘UFun’

Four executives of UFun Store Co. Ltd. have been arrested recently by Thai police for operating an alleged pyramid scheme. The arrests have been made following several complaints from discontented members who did not receive their share of profit since 2014.

There are nearly 14,700 victims of the company from Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, with approximately 10 billion baht (US$307 million) in possible damages, as reported by local media outlet Bangkok Post.

Police chief Somyot Poompanmoung said,"We looked into its business and found it was in fact a pyramid scheme. We revoked its corporate licence on April 8 and sought eight arrest warrants for its shareholders and directors, three of whom are Thai."

The company, which operated as an e-commerce website, made money by convincing people to contribute to various investment schemes that were priced from US$500 to US$50,000 range.

"We found the company did not mention products it registered to sell in its sales pitches. Instead, it urged clients to expand their teams by offering in return high-value items such as cars or gold bars. That way, the money it made mainly came from new members rather than from selling the products", Somyot added.