ufunclub-logoAs the Chengdu shebang nears and uFun newsletters tout scrapping worthless uTokens for pre-IPO shares in shady ventures nobody seems able to verify, plenty more dodgy is going on within the uFun investor-base.

The latest saw an affiliate desperately trying to cover her tracks, by way of a story that failed to add up.

The arrest of Tharathip Tosanthia brought the number of uFun investor and insider arrests in Thailand to thirty-four.

Tharathip caught the eye of Thai investors when they discovered that bank transfers from victims were tied to an account in her name.

Upon being picked up and arrested by police, Tharathip told investigators

she opened a Kasikornbank account at the behest of her stepmother, Waewta sae-Low, to receive money from a direct-sales business.

Oh so the stepmother was the culprit… I see.

Waewta later filed a complaint with police claiming the bankbook went missing, before Tharathip obtained a new bankbook and ATM card.

New bankbook and ATM card to cover your tracks? That’s not going to work.

Especially when

on April 17, Tharathip said Waewta asked her to withdraw Bt5 million ($148,000 USD) from the account and close it.

She said at the time she did not know anything about UFUN Thailand, or the pyramid scheme it allegedly operated, and was not a member of the company.

Thai police raided and began arresting individuals associated with uFun on April 11th.

One week later Tharathip is withdrawing and closing her bank account?!

Pol Lt-General Suwira Songmetta, chief investigator, said the police were not impressed with Tharathip’s statement and they would seek more evidence from her bank branch in relation to her deposits and withdrawals.

And here’s where things come undone.

A preliminary examination found more than 1,500 transactions with a value of more than 160 million baht had been conducted through a bank account belonging to Ms Tharathip and her stepmother, police said.

Ms Tharathip, allegedly a major shareholder in Ufun, was caught at Sa Kaeo’s Aranyaprathet district and charged with fraudulent loans and money laundering, Pol Lt Gen Suwira said.

 

Ms Tharathip denied the charges and said she was not a Ufun member and had never known other Ufun members.

She also said she did not know of the existence of millions of baht in her account, police said.

“I know nothing!” but over 1500 transactions totaling more than $4.7 million USD?!

Aw hell no!

And how on Earth did Tharathip go and withdraw funds she didn’t know were there???

Bloody hell, Somebody give her an Oscar already.

Pol Lt Gen Suwira said police are working with staff at Kasikornbank, Tesco Lotus branch in Aranyaprathet district to track all transactions being made through accounts belonging to Ms Tharathip.

Given that Tharathip was nabbed based on victim reports (“she stole my money!”), what’s the bet those transactions are all going to be uFun related?

Tharathip might have smuggled cash out of Thailand for UFUN’s benefit and laundered the money at gambling dens in Cambodia, or exchanged the money for US dollars and smuggled it out of the country.

Woman’s going down hard and that’s a lot of money stolen from victims, but damn me if she didn’t make her arrest plenty entertaining.