A team of lawyers from the Campaign for Justice in Society Foundation took victims to provide information to the police after being sold a dream to invest in a direct sales business. Lawyer Decha took another group of victims to file a complaint, focusing on pyramid schemes.
The Foundation for Justice Recovery brought those affected by the involvement of a famous direct selling company. Today, there were 20 victims, but now there are about 500 people in the group. Some of them are unable to travel because they are in the provinces or have personal business.
One of the victims said that all victims saw the company’s business in the same way, starting from TV advertisements, social media, and Facebook ads. While personally, after COVID, he wanted to find an additional job to earn income to support his family, so he decided to take a course, which would be online learning, with a cost of 98 or 99 baht.
The first 2 days were about teaching about the company’s business. On the 3rd day, a team leader came to tea
ch. If anyone is interested in doing business, they will sell the dream of creating additional income without having to stock products, without having to have products in hand, and with a full back-office support system.
Then they will offer to study a higher course at a price of 2,500 baht, in which they can learn more about the company’s system, with a coach coming to the school to study, with a mentor teacher and team leader to help out, and if interested in investing, there will be a higher course at a price of 25,000 baht. In this course, they will be persuaded that if they do business, they will have more income, and their lives will change. Anyone interested has an investment cost of 250,000 baht.
Personally, I admit that at first I wasn’t confident in paying 250,000 baht. But after a while, I had the opportunity to attend the company’s monthly events, both training and meetings. There were famous stars and actors who came to speak, building confidence. It made me feel that the company had a system t
o support everything. The back-end system was good, the marketing was good, and the products were good. However, famous stars and actors can only be found at events, which cost 1,500 baht to attend. From what I saw, there were 3 people, who were not just presenters, but were executives that people would call ‘boss.’
However, in the end, I realized that after studying for a while, I felt that they were not teaching me to sell things, but to find people to distribute the products by running ads, finding dealers to invest like myself. At that time, even though I did not have money to run ads, the team leader suggested that I refinance the car, use the money to run ads for customers, find students to study, and also suggested that I call and invite friends. Until now, I am in debt to credit cards. The money I used to invest has never yielded any results.
Another person admitted to investing 206,000 baht in savings to the point of almost committing suicide because he lost his job and wanted to start a business.
He also heard the slogan ‘If you work hard in the wrong place, you won’t be rich in 10 years.’ He felt that this was an opportunity to earn money to spend for his family because he started by investing only 2,500 baht. However, after paying it off, it turned out to be like a slogan selling dreams. In the end, he invested 206,000 baht and to this day still has to pay off debts. In addition, his family is broken because no one understands him, to the point of depression.
Meanwhile, the vice president of the Foundation for Justice Restoration showed the agreement document that the company made with the victims, claiming it was for moral support, paying some victims to sign a document to shut their mouths, and emphasizing that this case is a crime against the state and cannot be compromised. He asked the public to inform the victims to provide information to the investigators.
Lawyer Decha Kittiwittayanan, Ton Aor Foundation, and Mr. Thanakun Jittisara brought more than 10 victims of investment in the said comp
any to file a complaint with the Consumer Protection Police Division. Mr. Thanakun stated that the company’s behavior was incomplete information and false advertising about online sales, leading to people believing in the company to invest because it offered a course for 97 baht before gradually increasing the price to 250,000 baht, claiming to be a dealer, building a team, receiving additional benefits, before persuading them to run ads to earn an average of 500,000 baht per person. The latest information shows that there are more than 500 victims.
On the other hand, Ton Ao Foundation is one, stating that one of the victims came to tell that she invested in the company because she lost her job. She swiped her credit card for more than 400,000 baht, but the products she received could not be sold. This caused her stress. In addition, at that time, she was sick and pregnant, which made her think of jumping into the water to commit suicide. However, a good citizen was able to save her in time.
In addition, so
me victims also provided information that there were 3 groups of celebrities involved with the company. The first group are those who were directly authorized to manage, there were 5-6 people. The second group is a group of presenters that the company hired to build credibility, there were many people. And the last group is the group that has a relationship and was invited to join the company’s events. The victims confirmed that the first group of celebrities really did come to manage.
The victim said that the incident happened 2 years ago. At that time, she decided to invest because she wanted to be successful because the company invited her and mentioned successful people. The big boss’s famous phrase, “If you work hard in the wrong place, you won’t get rich in 10 years,” was the spark. When she joined, she invited her close friends and family to invest together. However, the products could not be sold because they were not of good quality and people did not come back to buy again, causing millions in dama
ges. When she asked the company for a way to sell the products, she did not get an answer, causing her to lose her relationship with her close friends and family. She emphasized that this business does not focus on selling products, but on finding people to invest with.
Lawyer Decha reiterated the case of celebrities who held a press conference confirming that they had no part in the company’s decision. He has spoken with investigators and the investigators said that the prosecution does not only look at words, but also behavior and evidence. Judging from the circumstances, there is a high chance that many celebrities will be prosecuted, but he declined to specify who they are.
In this case, two lawyers brought the victim to file a complaint to investigate whether the company was involved in fraud, pyramid schemes, false advertising, and whether it was an offense under the Direct Selling Act.
Other offenses that may follow may be a matter of the Computer Act. I would like to inform the victims to come and
file a complaint with the investigation officer. They do not have to come to the Consumer Protection Police Division. They can file a complaint at the place of residence because the acting national police chief has already emphasized that it will be comprehensive. If there are any obstacles, Lawyer Decha said that you can contact him immediately.
Source: Thai News Agency