Scam Direct Sales case

U-Fun company was granted permission under the Direct Sales and Marketing Act to sell herbal drinks, fruit drinks and cosmetics on May 25, 2014.

However, OCPB later found it was operating a pyramid scheme which focused on bringing in new members rather than selling products.

Consumer Protection Police Division, the Anti-Money Laundering Office and the OCPB received complaints by the company’s business partners who said they had not received their shares of promised profits.

U-Fun made money by persuading people to invest in it, through its website and other online channels. It proposed 5 investment positions: one-star is 500 USDs, two-star is 1000 USDs, three-star is 5000 USDs, four-star is 10000 USDs and five-star is 55000 USDs. After becoming members, the customers would get points for discounts when buying products from U-Fun. Then the members were asked to persuade others to join their team by buying Utokens (the assumed currency). Utokens is a virtual currency of its own used to buy the company's products.

However, the use of Utokens is not allowed by the bank of Thailand as well as foreign banks. There are approximately 500 people that have filed complaints claiming damages amounting to BHT 1300 million. The police have managed to seize assets worth BHT 727 million from suspects.

All offenders are under custody and can be imprisoned for 5-10 years and fined up to 1 million bath as punishment for fraud.