$24 Million Thai Bitcoin Fraud: Defrauded Finn Withdraws Complaint Against 2 Suspects
The 22-year-old Finnish investor who was defrauded of 5,564 bitcoins in Thailand has agreed to withdraw his complaint against two key suspects.
According to the deputy commander of Thailand’s Crime Suppression Division, Chakrit Sawasdee, a complaint against prominent Stock Exchange of Thailand trader, Prasit Srisuwan, and a majority shareholder of tech firm Expay Software Co, Chakris Ahmad, was withdrawn on Tuesday by Aarni Otava Saarimaa as initially reported by Bangkok Post.
This means that the two businessmen will no longer face any charges in relation to the bitcoin fraud case as Thai law allows settlements with regards to fraud. However, Sawasdee could not provide information on how much changed hands in order to reach the settlement.
Negotiations Have Been Underway
Last week CCN.com reported that Saarimaa held talks with the Thai businessmen though he declined to provide further information.
“My talks with them [the two businessmen] turned out to be very satisfactory but I cannot give any details now,” Saarimaa said after a meeting with Srisuwan and Ahmad last week.
Saarimaa had filed a complaint in January to the Crime Suppression Division after losing bitcoins worth 797 million baht or approximately US$24 million to a group led by the alleged mastermind of the scheme, Prinya Jaravijit.
Specifically, the Finnish investor was invited to invest 264.78 million baht (a little over US$8 million) in publicly traded stocks listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand and 92.69 million baht (approximately US$2.8 million) in Expay Software Co. Additionally, Saarimaa was also invited to invest 440 million baht (US$13 million) in Dragon Coin, a digital currency for the gambling industry.
‘Family First’
The Finnish investor went on to transfer the amount in bitcoins to Prinya’s wallet but the money was not spent on the agreed investments. Instead, Prinya transferred most of it to family members who included his younger brother, famous Thai screen actor Jiratpisit Jaravijit, his father Suwit Jaravijit, his mother Lertchatkamol and his younger sister Supitcha Jaravijit.
After weeks of being on the run and reportedly holed up in the United States, Prinya has now indicated that he is ready to surrender. But while the date for the hearing of his charges had been set for September 17, he has requested a postponement through his lawyer.
His siblings Jiratpisit and Supitcha have been arraigned in court already though the police are yet to apply for the arrest warrants of his parents. Suwit Jaravijit and his wife Lertchatkamol are expected to be questioned further this week over the 90 million baht (US$2.7 million) that their son wired to their bank accounts.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
