Arrest warrant issued for politician over iCon scandal
Former Palang Pracharath Party spokesman Samart Janechaijitwanit accused of money laundering in alleged pyramid selling scheme
The Criminal Court on Sunday approved a warrant for the arrest of former Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) deputy spokesman Samart Janechaijitwanit over alleged money laundering in The iCon Group fraud scandal.
The Department of Special Investigation says Samart collaborated with others to launder money from the suspected pyramid selling scheme operated by iCon.
Samart quit the PPRP on October 25, just days before the party’s executive board planned to expel him over an audio recording of a phone discussion in which he allegedly demands over 100,000 baht per month from iCon Group CEO Warathaphon Waratyaworrakul. The money is demanded in exchange for preventing iCon executives from being summoned by parliamentary committees for questioning over suspicious business deals.
Samart denies taking part in the phone discussion, saying it was generated by AI software. However, Warathaphon, who is under arrest, reportedly told police that he recorded the phone call before refusing to pay the bribe.
Warathaphon is among 18 iCon Group executives arrested and detained for alleged public fraud. Their arrests came after over 8,000 people complained of losses totalling around 2.4 billion baht from iCon products they were unable to sell.
