Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul says he has asked Deputy Finance Minister Vorapak Tanyawong for a written response to allegations that he is linked to Southeast Asian scam networks.
Mr Anutin also denied reports that Mr Vorapak had been named to lead a new national anti-scam committee, as Thailand and other nations widen their efforts to stop online scams spreading across the region.
“There’s no such appointment,” the prime minister told reporters on Tuesday. “His name isn’t on the list — never was, never will be. I’m the chairman. Financial matters fall under (Finance Minister) Ekniti and investigations are led by the Justice Ministry.”
Mr Vorapak’s name was linked to the anti-scam committee after Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas told reporters earlier this month that his deputy would lead a task force to follow the money trail left by scam centres across Southeast Asia.
Mr Vorapak has also denied allegations published in the Whale Hunting newsletter by Project Brazen, which said his wife was paid $3 million in cryptocurrency, citing corporate filings in Singapore.
Project Brazen was founded by investigative journalists Tom Wright and Bradley Hope, who broke numerous stories on the 1MDB scandal in Malaysia while working for the Wall Street Journal. For the last several weeks their Whale Hunting newsletter has been publishing stories about the links between various political and business figures — in Thailand, Cambodia and beyond — to the regional scam industry.
Some of the key figures in the scam industry have in turn been linked to the accumulation of substantial shareholdings in Thai listed companies including Bangchak Corp and the securities firm Finansia X Plc.
Thailand faces a growing challenge in curbing the illegal, industrial-scale scam operations being run out of Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. Many are located near those nations’ borders with Thailand and China. Criminal gangs have been forcing trafficked victims to lure people on social media and dating applications.
This month alone, dozens of South Koreans allegedly working for scammers were repatriated from Cambodia. In Myanmar, the country’s junta raided a multiple-building compound, detaining more than 2,000 workers and seizing Starlink receivers and accessories.
The United Nations earlier this year said cyber crime syndicates are still expanding, due to illicit online marketplaces using cryptocurrencies. It also noted the shift from land-based internet connections to the use of Starlink.
The Thai Ministry of Finance task force is “designed to find links between grey money flows and online scams, using financial network and identity data”, according to Mr Ekniti, who said the goal is to complete all necessary coordination and groundwork by December.
The so-called Connect the Dots group would be collaborating with the anti-scam committee and key agencies including the Bank of Thailand, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Anti-Money Laundering Office, he said.
Mr Anutin was also asked Tuesday if his weeks-old government could be undermined if multiple cabinet members were linked to scam networks.
“If anyone is found guilty, the law will take care of them,” he said.
