Nearly 1,100 iCon complaints reported

Nearly 1,100 loss-ridden vendors have filed complaints against The iCon Group, as police continue investigating allegations that the direct-sales group ran a pyramid scheme, according to the national police chief.
Pol Gen Kitrat Phanphet said he was satisfied with progress in the questioning of complainants as more than 900 had been interviewed so far.
The national police chief met personally with some of the complainants who showed up at the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) in Bangkok on Tuesday.
He said that if police found evidence to back legal action, they would file the relevant charges within this month.
“The collection of evidence is under way and concerns suspected wrongdoing but police must take careful consideration before seeking an arrest warrant,” Pol Gen Kitrat said.
Investigators are looking into possible violations of the laws governing direct marketing, consumer protection, fraudulent borrowing and public fraud, he added.
Police have also asked the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) to freeze the assets of key figures linked to the case, and expect a response by Thursday.
“Police understand that people are in trouble but police do not have any asset seizure authority,” Pol Gen Kitrat said.
An Amlo spokesman said earlier that freezing assets would prevent them from being siphoned off or shifted pending the outcome of investigations.
Pol Gen Kitrat said all police stations nationwide were ready to receive complaints related to the case, with nearly 100 interrogators available to question complainants at the Consumer Protection Police Division under the CIB.
The Department of Special Investigation is also investigating the records of The iCon Group dating back to its founding in 2019, said Pol Maj Yuthana Praedam, the agency’s acting director-general.
DSI officials suspected irregularities in its financial statements, he said, adding that investigators would seek to establish whether it operated a pyramid scheme, laundered money or engaged in fraud.
The iCon Group attracted many people by offering online marketing courses costing less than 100 baht. But once they enrolled, participants said they were asked to spend much larger sums buying health supplement products to sell. After that, they were asked to pay for online advertisements to recruit new members, for which they could earn fees.
In a related development, Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsutin said The iCon Group had been fined years ago for inappropriate labels that exaggerated the properties of the products it sold.
iCon founder and chief executive officer Warathaphon “Paul” Waratyaworrakul, in a tearful television appearance on Monday, said his company had been in the direct marketing business for over six years and its products focused on dietary supplements. The company had 10 dealers who had their own channels to market the products of the company, he said.
The company hired celebrities only to promote its products, he said, in response to questions about whether the celebrities held executive positions and would thus share legal liability.