DES minister criticises SEC's stance on forex scams
The Minister of Digital Economy and Society, Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn, on Tuesday criticised the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for failing to take action against forex trading firms that defrauded the public.
He said if the SEC refuses to take action, he would seek to increase the power of the DES Ministry to handle the issue by amending the related law.
The SEC on Monday issued a statement that it has no direct authority to take action against Forex-3D, the firm which has allegedly defrauded 9,824 people since 2019 and been responsible for their losses in excess of 2.48 billion baht.
The SEC explained that its oversight was confined to securities trading, forward stock trading and trading of digital assets, and did not include forex trading.
“I felt sorry after I heard this explanation,” Chaiwut said.
“There must be an agency in charge if someone sets up a company to pool funds worth billions or tens of billions of baht in pyramid fund style and causes damage.”
Chaiwut said he would soon hold a meeting of the online crime suppression committee to deliberate on the legal loopholes that permitted Forex-3D to defraud the public.
“It seems a company can be set up to lure people to invest in it via social media and its network without seeking permission from the authorities. This shows that Thailand’s laws are outdated and they need to be reformed,” Chaiwut said.
He added that he wanted to order the closure of websites that lured people to invest, like the Forex-3D website, and inflicted losses on them.
He said he would seek powers for his ministry to handle such cases by amending the Computer Crime Act.
But he said he still believed that the SEC has the authority to take action because Forex-3D was set up as a company to invite investments from the public.
