KITTIPONG MANEERIT
THE NATION May 19, 2015 1:00 am
POLICE, armed with arrest warrants for two leading UFUN members, searched homes in Sai Mai district in Bangkok early yesterday and arrested one suspect, Udomchai Imrattanarak.
However, the second suspect, Boonsong Jeungthanes, is still at large.
The two men were among 20 wanted in relation to the alleged pyramid scheme. So far, 11 UFUN members are in police custody.
The duo were "two-star" members of UFUN, who allegedly have hundreds of other members down the line and are said to be part of the same network as Rathawit Thiti-arounwat, who is currently under arrest, an assistant to the police chief Lt-General Suwira Songmetta said.
Invested Bt35,000 to buy two-star status
Udomchai told police he joined the scheme last February and invested Bt35,000 to get a "two star" membership.
He said that when he started earning profits in the first three months, he asked his wife and friends to join as well, adding that he only had 30 "downline" members.
Udomchai's wife Lampan Imrattanarak and Boonsong's wife Chananya Konsing were also taken into custody for questioning, while technological devices and financial documents were seized for further inspection.
Suwira also reported on the progress of an alleged pyramid scheme run by UDBP Management (Thailand), a business |partner to UFUN, saying that police had gathered|the names of 8,706 individuals in China who had suffered losses to send to Chinese authorities for checking.
Last week, police had searched the UDBP office in Bangkok and arrested its Malaysian president Kevin Lai and Chinese vice-president Yang Yuan Zhao along with seven employees.