Derrick Keller cleared of Eagle Gates Group charges
A Bangkok court has found Derrick Keller not guilty over his association with the Eagle Gates Group Ponzi scheme.
Keller (right) was arrested last August over his involvement in promotion of Eagle Gates Group.
In his defense, Keller claimed he was approached in China about acting in videos portraying Eagle Gates Group’s management.
Keller claims he was paid $15,000 for the role and other than that, had no ties to the company.
Following a fourteen month stint in Klong Prem prison, Keller was cleared of all charges and released on Monday, September 30th.
Believing he was free to leave the country, upon attempting to fly back to the US Keller was again apprehended and placed in detention. This time over visa and immigration issues.
Thai immigration authorities informed Keller he was ‘facing immigration charges for being in Thailand without a visa.’
Mr Keller was taken into immigration detention and remains there after being told that he could not pay a fine and be deported back home until Monday the 7th October at the earliest.
Upon his release, Keller gave a brief interview on what it was like inside Klong Prem prison.
Their favorite thing to do is slap the prisoners.
So if you do something wrong they call you over and they make you lean over in front of them, and they’ll slap you on the side of the face with an open hand … which rings the ears bad.
And uh, punching you in belly whenever you were getting counted to go upstairs.
There’s one guard who loved to punch me in the belly.
And I’d flinch up and tighten up to try and block it. And he’d wait till I relaxed and then took a breath and then, wham.
He thought it was funny. He thought it was hilarious.
On or around October 11th, Keller finally returned to the US.
The other actors who worked with Keller to portray Eagle Gates Group’s fictional management remain at large.
Why do you post a picture of this poor guy and write about him constantly?
I’m sure he’d love for this ordeal to be behind him. He doesn’t need every random website taking his pic and posting it. Is that even legal?
Yup, reporting the facts is legal.
That fact being Derrick Keller took Ponzi money to play management for a scam on video. His choice, his consequences.
Hmmm, but your own article says he was innocent. Now I’m just confused.
Thai authorities went after Keller for more than just appearing in marketing videos. IIRC they went after him for running the scam.
That’s what Keller was cleared of. He otherwise very much appeared in Eagle Gates Group marketing videos to portray fictional management.
Those videos were then used to scam people out of a ton of money. These are non-disputable facts.
I haven’t seen the videos for myself but I know of dozens of agencies and modelling groups that do this stuff for companies all the time.
I wouldn’t be so quick to judge and assume that he understood his videos were going to be used to scam people.
I can assure you that hiring fake management to appear in promo videos does not happen “all the time”.
There’s no reason for a legitimate company to hire actors to play fake management.
This wasn’t some stock footage gig, it was fraud with intent to deceive. Keller jumped at a quick buck and paid for it.
He should be grateful for this publicity, it will be brilliant for his future career.
What other actor can put on his resume he portrayed a criminal so convincingly, they put him in jail for real, and it took more than a year before anyone would believe he’d only been acting?
Lol. I guess that’s one way to look at it.
I don’t know. Something about this article really bothers me. A guy serves his punishment (arguably way, way worse than he deserved) for a lapse in judgement. But then the internet deems it reasonable to punish him again, this time permanently.
Also every other publication is covering him as a poor guy who got duped and was found innocent.
Oz, I think you’re letting your own personal views and biases impact how you view this
If you want to view factual reporting as punishment that’s your prerogative.
We had nothing to do with Derrick Keller working with scammers to create Ponzi promotion material. That’s on him.
He was found not guilty of running the scam. He wasn’t found not guilty of being accessory of it.
Honestly, why would he think making a marketing video where he pretends to be management of a company he never heard of would be a good idea? He just didn’t expect to get caught.