DSI Director General held press conference on DSI achievements since taking office on 18 January 2023, with investigation completed and significant progress made in 39 cases and over 9,500 million baht of assets recovered

DSI Director General held press conference on DSI achievements since taking office on 18 January 2023, with investigation completed and significant progress made in 39 cases and over 9,500 million baht of assets recovered

       On Monday 10 April 2023 at 13.30 hours at DSI Reception Room, Rajaburidirekkriddhi Builiding, Government Complex on Chaengwattana Road, DSI Director General Police Major Suriya Singhakamol held a press conference of DSI achievements. Also present during the press conference were his Deputies Director General Police Major Yuthana Praedam, Police Lieutenant Colonel Phayao Thongsen, Police Captain Piya Raksakul and Police Captain Wisanu Chimtrakool, as well as heads of investigation bureaus and centers. This event was held to reiterate the Director General’s policy guidelines for DSI officers to perform their law enforcement duties and investigate special cases with efficiency, speediness, transparency and compliance with the law, to accelerate their efforts to arrest offenders under arrest warrants in special cases to bring them to justice, and to stand ready to be examined on all aspects of their performance of duties with regular communication to the public in order to promote the organization image. The period from 18 January to 5 April 2023 has seen DSI’s investigation completed and significant progress made in 39 cases, which can be classified into 4 main groups:

1. Economic Crime Of 10 cases in total, the highlights are as follows:

• Customs Duty Evasion

         Case involving 498 NGV buses imported with false declaration of country of origin (value of tax recovered: 2,180,000,000 baht)

• Pyramid scheme

• Criminal proceedings against 16 individuals in connection with FOREX 3D scam
• Case involving deception to invest in sport arbitrage business

(total damage: 2,668,000,000 baht)

• Money Laundering (Assets total 3,375,000,000 baht)

• Case of money laundering by executives of Chulalongkorn University Savings Cooperative depositing and lending money to Mongkol Sethi Credit Union Cooperative
• Case involving a group of individuals making financial transactions at the volume unusually high and inconsistent with their income, with the source of income being unknown, which might be related to narcotics offences or online gambling
• Case of money laundering in connection with the predicate offence of investment fraud committed by System Plug and Play Company and accomplices

Case of money laundering in connection with the predicate offence of investment fraud by deception to invest in non-existent automobile business

(Total assets involved: 3,375,000,000 baht)

• Offences under Currency Exchange Law

Case involving a conspiracy to direct 13 juristic persons to deceitfully obtain loans from a bank and transfer the money in USD to bank accounts in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Republic of Singapore

(Total damage: 826,000,000 baht)

2.Cyber and Intellectual Property Crime (3 cases in total)

• Trademark infringements

• Case of Facebook page “กระเป๋า Babybag store” selling, offering for sale and having in possession for sale bags bearing counterfeit trademarks
• Case of individuals at Rong Kluea market, in Nakhon Nayok Province, ” selling, offering for sale and having in possession for sale bags and other goods bearing counterfeit trademarks

(value of exhibits: 24,000,000 baht)

• Products without required certifications from the Thai Industrial standards Institute and the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission)

• Case involving foreigners and Thai people illegally importing and selling 17,900  electronic devices (cellphones, tablets, electronics, cosmetics) via online platforms and applications without required certifications from the Thai Industrial standards Institute and the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission

(Total damage: over 23,000,000 baht)

3.Consumer Protection and Environment Crime Of 19 cases in total, the highlights are as follows:

• Illegal issuance of title deeds and encroachment of forest reserves/public land

• Case involving Illegal issuance of title deeds and encroachment of forest reserves at Pa Ao Nang and Pa Hang Nak in Krabi Province
• Case involving Illegal issuance of title deeds by Nicky Beach Hotel in Phuket and encroachment of public land at Le Pang Beach

      (Total area: 97 rai, 3 ngan, 10 square wa / total damage: 342,212,500 baht)

4.Transnational and Special Crime Of 7 cases in total, the highlights are as follows:

• Corruption/official misconduct

• Corruption and embezzlement at Krabi Palm Oil Cooperative
• Overtime fraud by staff of Port Authority of Thailand and use of fraudulent documents in a lawsuit filed with the Labor court
• Corruption in the construction of 163 Police Flats (total value of 3,710 million baht). DSI has submitted investigation files to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) on 23 April 2013, and on 30 March 2023 the Central Corruption Court sentenced ex-police officers to imprisonment for official misconduct
• Accusation against government officials of illegally issuing title deeds to Akara Resources Public Company Limited. On 17 March 2023, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) had a resolution that the accused committed offences under Sections 151 and 157 of the Penal Code and gross disciplinary offences. At the same time, NACC also had a resolution that those involved as facilitators under the Penal Code

• Human Trafficking and sexual offences

• Online human trafficking network operating nationwide
• Case involving the request from Anti-Human Trafficking Division of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security for DSI to investigate a restaurant offering prostitution in Nakhon Sawan

       Apart from its law enforcement efforts, the Department of Special Investigation takes steps to prevent special crimes by promoting public participation and empowering communities for self-defense against crimes – through “DSI Station” citizen participatory initiative, with 28 learning centers in Thailand and 9 centers overseas.

       Also, to widen access to justice, DSI implements the “Restorative Justice” policy to solve and alleviate the sufferings by members of the public, especially with human and community rights. A few shining examples are the success in solving the upstream land disputes at Yang of Pua District in Nan, and the joint operation with Phuket Province to recover the Lepang-Layan beachfront.

       As a result of DSI’s active investigation and law enforcement to prevent and suppress special crimes from 18 January to 5 April 2023, a total of 9,541,936,056.92 baht could successfully be recovered to the State, the Private Sector and the general public.

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