17 iCon fraud suspects sent to jail

CEO to make first court appearance Friday, DSI searches server for more evidence

Seventeen suspects in The iCon Group fraud case have been sent to jail after the Criminal Court rejected bail requests submitted by three celebrities, citing flight risk, while the others did not apply for release.

The ruling came on a day in which the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) located a server containing the business records of the online sales company, which has been accused of running a pyramid scheme. Authorities also seized 220 million baht worth of assets including many luxury cars.

Police took 17 suspects to court on Thursday afternoon to seek their detention, while iCon founder and CEO Warathaphon “Boss Paul” Waratyaworrakul was still being questioned by investigators. He will be taken to court on Friday.

All 18 suspects — dubbed “bosses” in the iCon marketing hierarchy — were arrested on Wednesday after more than 1,000 people filed fraud complaints against the company. They say iCon lured them by offering cheap online sales courses and then coerced them into making further financial commitments — some leading to losses of hundreds of thousands of baht.

All of the suspects have been charged with colluding in public fraud and inputting false information into a computer system. They have denied all the charges.

Among the 17 suspects, only actor Yuranunt “Boss Sam” Pamornmontri, actress Pechaya “Boss Min” Wattanamontree and TV host Kan Kantathavorn submitted bail applications. However, the court turned down their requests, saying they posed a flight risk or might interfere with evidence.

About 150 representatives of victims also submitted a petition to the court opposing the suspects’ temporary release.

The 10 male suspects were sent to Bangkok Remand Prison and the seven female suspects to the Central Women’s Correctional Institution.

The court appearance followed about 14 hours of questioning by officers at the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) building in Bangkok, where the suspects had been detained overnight following their arrest.

Pol Maj Gen Suwat Saengnum, the CIB deputy commissioner, said the initial questioning of Mr Warathaphon was expected to be completed on Friday within the maximum 48 hours allowed.

Authorities are gathering evidence and questioning victims before deciding whether to seek arrest warrants for more suspects, he added. (Story continues below)

Lawyer Withoon Keng-ngarn speaks to reporters on Thursday after visiting iCon Group CEO Warathaphon “Boss Paul” Waratyaworrakul. He said his client denies all the charges against him. (Photo supplied/Wassayos Ngamkham)

Server mined for data

The Department of Special Investigation on Thursday searched a building in Bung Kum district of Bangkok for more evidence about the business operations of The iCon Group.

Investigators armed with a search warrant entered the building on Ratchada-Ram Indra Road in the Nuan Chan area at about 11am on Thursday. They had reliable information that iCon had rented a cloud server there to back up its data, said Pol Maj Woranan Srilam, a DSI spokesman.

Investigators had to move quickly as digital evidence could be changed easily and rapidly, he added.

An initial examination found that the server held data about all activities of the online business that would be useful, said Pol Maj Woranan.

The person in charge of the building was only the lessor and not affiliated with The iCon Group. They provided full cooperation to DSI investigators while they backed up the data from the server, he said.

“Aside from the money trail of the firm, the DSI will look into the company’s accounting to find out whether there are any irregularities in the business operation,” he said.

“We have been given cooperation from the Central Institute of Forensic Science to collect digital evidence.”

The DSI is also looking to search a house in Pathum Thani where a key computer programmer for the firm lived, the spokesman added.

Withoon Keng-ngarn, the lawyer for Mr Warathaphon, on Thursday visited his client, who denied all charges and confirmed the original testimony he gave to authorities.

Mr Withoon said his client was not worried that his bail request might be denied. He said it would only be a change of place to sleep and life would go on, the lawyer added.

The 17 other suspects are:

• Jirawat “Boss Lab” Saengpakdee
• Klod “Boss Peter” Sretthanan
• Ms Panjaras “Boss Pan” Kanokrakthanaporn
• Tananont “Boss Mor Ek” Hiranchaiwan
• Ms Natpasorn “Boss Suay” Hatthanasorn
• Ms Yasikan “Boss Soda” Ekchisanuphong
• Nantharat “Boss Om” Chaowanapreecha
• Thawinphas “Boss Win” Phupattanarin
• Ms Kanokthorn “Boss Mae Ying” Puranasukhon
• Ms Saowapaa “Boss Oommy” Wongsakha
• Chetnaphat “Boss Tommy” Apiwattanakarn
• Hassayanont “Boss Pop” Ekchisanuphong
• Ms Wilailak “Boss Joy” Yawichai or Jensuwan
• Thanarot “Boss Off” Thitijariyawat
• Celebrity Yuranunt “Boss Sam” Pamornmontri
• Actress Pechaya “Boss Min” Wattanamontree
• Actor and TV host Kan “Boss Kan” Kantathavorn

Editorial: Icon case smells bad