Bangkok--27 Nov--SEC
The SEC filed a criminal complaint with the Economic Crime Division of the Royal Thai Police (ECD Police) against five companies, namely
(1) Silver Line Trading Intertrade Co., Ltd., (2) Diamond and Silverline Group Co., Ltd., (3) K.N.O. Marketing Co., Ltd., (4) M.B. Network Co., Ltd., and (5) P.T. Research Co., Ltd., along with four related persons, namely (1) Jaray Chanchaisilp, directors of Silver Line Trading Intertrade Co., Ltd. and Diamond and Silverline Group Co., Ltd., (2) Kanok Juntarachot, director of K.N.O. Marketing Co., Ltd., (3) Rak Suwanrod, director of M.B. Network Co., Ltd., and (4) Pat Thamma, director of P.T. Research Co., Ltd., on account of operating derivatives business without license.
The SEC received complaints indicating that the aforesaid five firms’ employees have represented themselves to the general public as gold futures trading agents of foreign companies. They have advertised and solicited investing public to open gold futures trading account and then make the trading transactions through the following websites: (1) www.masterbenasia.com, (2) www.solidgoldasia.com, (3) www.everchampgroup.com, (4) www.empirelinkgroup.com, (5) www.hkdealing.com, and (6) www.kimston.com. Mostly, these websites provide the same contact address at 3rd Floor, Omar Hodge Building, Wickhams Cay 1, Road Rown or Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands. Moreover, these five unlicensed firms are or used to be located at the same site at
400 Soi Ladprao 94 (Panjamitr), Wangthonglang, Bangkok 10230.
From the SEC’s finding, these firms have operated derivatives business without license or registration with the SEC in violation of Section 16 of the Derivatives Act B.E. 2546 (2003) and thus liable under Section 125 of the same Act to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or a fine not exceeding three hundred thousand baht or both and a further fine not exceeding ten thousand baht for every day during which the violation continues. The SEC therefore filed a criminal complaint with the ECD Police against these five companies and four related persons.
Vasant Thienhom, SEC Deputy Secretary-General said that “Unlicensed business operators usually approach the targets with a variety of persuasive techniques, for instance, having office located in business areas, such as Silom, Sathorn, Sukhumvit. Nonetheless, credibility was fictitious as the premise was simply a virtual office for documents or telephone calls or a reception site to lure general public into their businesses. Frequently, the targets were appointed to meet with them at leading shopping centers or hotels. And importantly, unlicensed business operators move their offices all the times without notifying their clients to avoid the clients’ contact to redeem or withdraw their investment.
The initial investment starts at 350,000 baht. Upon signing the contract, trading account and code will be sent to client via email. Then, client can send trading orders as well as verify trading transactions and account status through the specified websites by themselves with trading fee at USD80 per transaction and fixed currency exchange rate at 35 baht per USD1 or approximately 2,800 baht per transaction.
To prevent losses from the aforesaid schemes, if contacted or solicited to invest in derivatives products such as gold futures and oil futures, investing public must firstly verify legitimacy of such solicitor to ensure proper legal protection, regardless of how tempting the offer seems. List of licensees is available at the SEC’s website (www.sec.or.th) while list of those not licensed by the SEC can be viewed under “Investor Alert List” banner. The SEC Help Center also welcomes public assistance and report on suspicious scams or unlicensed activities to help us pursue further investigation. The Center can be reached at Tel: 02-263-6000 or
[email protected].”