Pheu Thai minister denies being ‘guardian angel’ for iCon Group

Deputy Transport Minister Manaporn Charoensri on Wednesday vehemently denied helping the iCon Group escape legal action when she was charing a sub-House committee last year.

At a press conference she had called in Parliament, Manaporn said she believed Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) spokesman Piya Tawichai was referring to her when he said that a member of the ruling Pheu Thai Party had been a “guardian angel” for the alleged pyramid scheme operator.

Piya on Tuesday declared that PPRP leader General Prawit Wongsuwan was not the “guardian angel” for the iCon Group as suspected by social networkers.

Prawit came under the public spotlight after the iCon Group’s CEO Warathaphon “Boss Paul” Waratyaworrakul claimed Prawit’s former aide, Samart Janechaijitwanit, had once demanded monthly protection fees from him.

An audio clip also went viral of Warathaphon allegedly telling members of his network that his business was protected by many “guardian angels”.

Piya, meanwhile, insisted Prawit was definitely not a guardian angel for the iCon Group, but several Pheu Thai Party politicians were.

At the press conference Manaporn called on Wednesday along with People’s Party MP Prasertpong Sornnuwat, she said during the tenure of the government led by PPRP’s General Prayut Chan-o-cha, both Pheu Thai and People’s Party, previously Move Forward Party, were on the opposition bench.

At that time, she said, she chaired a House sub-committee on consumer protection and Prasert was her deputy. On January 20, 2023, she said, a Chonburi resident filed a complaint with the House committee on consumer protection and the complaint was passed on to her panel to handle.

The complainant said he had paid 200,000 baht to the iCon Group to purchase toothpaste to sell, but did not receive the goods as agreed upon and wanted a refund.

In response to the complaint, she said, her panel summoned officials from the Consumer Protection Board as well as executives of the iCon Group to testify.

She then said that thanks to her subcommittee’s mediation, the complainant got his money back and withdrew the complaint.

Manaporn also said that she did not know any iCon Group executives and that at the time of the complaint, PPRP was in power and decided not to take any legal action against the company.

She explained that House committees had no legal power and could only conduct investigations.

On Tuesday, Piya also claimed that Yuranunt “Sam” Pamornmontri, one of the 18 arrested iCon Group executives, was a member of the Pheu Thai Party.

However, Manaporn said Yuranunt had quit the party in 2014.
Prasert, meanwhile, backed Manaporn’s claims, saying that they had worked with integrity and straightforwardly as members of the House panel.