About 5,600 people claim to lose B1.6bn through iCon Group direct sales business

A total of 5,648 people have filed 1.61-billion-baht loss complaints related to their participation in the direct sales business of The iCon Group as police prepare money-laundering charges against suspects.
The Central Investigation Bureau shared the figures of the complainants and the alleged damage on Sunday evening.
Sources said that the complainants filed their cases with police nationwide from Oct 10 to 20. Questioning has been concluded with 2,822 complainants who alleged they lost about 965 million baht through their dealerships with The iCon Group’s products which focused on dietary supplements.
Many more people in Thailand and other countries were collecting evidence to prepare for their upcoming complaints in the case, sources said.
Sources also said that the Central Investigation Bureau planned to additionally charge The iCon Group suspects with money-laundering, fraudulent borrowing and illegal assembly. CIB officers expected to inform 18 iCon Group suspects of additional charges in the places of their detention.
Police intended to conclude investigation into the additional charges this week and would also arrest more suspects in the case, including big dealers who had networks of smaller dealers, sources said.
Earlier police charged suspects with public fraud and computer crime for entering false information into computer systems. Many people who paid for their dealership subscriptions with the group complained that they could not sell products as the group’s representatives had told them in training sessions.
In another development, the Consumer Protection Police Division has impounded four more vehicles from The iCon Group consisting of two Lexus vehicles, an MG vehicle and a Toyota van.
Among complainants who showed up at the Central Investigation Bureau in Bangkok on Sunday was a Macau man aged 70 who said he had lost his 250,000-baht investment in the direct sales business of The iCon Group.
His representative Itthidet Thanetwattana said the complainant had accepted an investment invitation from a Thai person who lived in Hong Kong and the Thai was also an affected party in the case.
The Macau man attended a training session in Thailand late last year and met The iCon Group chief executive Warathaphon “Boss Paul” Waratyaworrakul and Thai celebrities he knew from TV programmes.
The Macau man had not received all the products he had ordered from the group and his superior dealer had told him that there had not been enough supplies, Mr Itthidet said.
The Macau man was shocked by news reports about the direct sales group in Thailand and decided to file his complaint in Bangkok, the representative said.