Kritanong Suwanwong denies extortion allegation
Ponzi scheme expert explains mediation role in iCon Group case
Kritanong Suwanwong, of the Facebook page "Kritanong Against Corruption", known as an expert on online businesses and Ponzi schemes, has come forward after a well-known lawyer accused her of being a complainant who extorted 10 million baht from The iCon Group and collected 20% of the compensation from victims for charitable purposes.
Kritanong firmly denied the extortion claim, explaining that about three or four months before The iCon Group became embroiled in a legal case, 89 victims contacted her, asking for help in seeking compensation from the company.
Acting as a mediator, she communicated with the company’s chief executive officer Waratphol “Boss Paul” Waratvorakul, negotiating a total compensation of 15 million baht. However, Boss Paul agreed to pay only half, which amounted to 8 million baht.
The victims accepted the offer, and arrangements were made to distribute the money at her office. The iCon Group bosses personally handed over cash in envelopes to the victims, and Kritanong insisted she was not involved in handling the money.
For five victims who couldn’t collect the money themselves, The iCon Group transferred 450,000 baht to her foundation’s account, which she said she immediately transferred to the victims.
She said some victims expressed gratitude for her assistance. As the money used to help them came from the foundation’s fund, she said anyone who wished to contribute to the fund could do so, without any fixed amount – entirely based on their own willingness – so that there would be no questions about what she gained from it.
One victim said Kritanong shared an example of one case where the contribution was as high as 40%. However, the victims discussed this among themselves and agreed that 40% was too much, ultimately settling on 20%.
Kritanong also clarified that all the money she received from the victims was put into the foundation's fund to assist others in future cases. Regarding the case with The iCon Group, she said she only received contributions from 20 of the 89 victims involved.
