SEC files criminal complaint against three unlicensed derivatives business operators and two related persons

Bangkok, February 20, 2013 – The SEC filed a criminal complaint with the Economic Crime Division of the Royal Thai Police (ECD Police) against three unlicensed derivatives business operators, namely PT Millennium Penata Futures, Ascot Global Trading Ltd., and J.R.A. Business Center Co., Ltd. Also named in the complaint are two related persons, namely Arthiphant Thongchandr, as an accomplice with PT Millennium Penata Futures, and Kasemsak Sirisrisornchai, a director of J.R.A. Business Center Ltd.

 

This follows complaints indicating that the aforesaid firms represented themselves to the general public as gold futures trading agents. They also advertised and solicited the investing public to open gold futures trading account and conduct trading transactions through the following websites: www.mpf.co.id, www.ascotfx.com and www.maxglobalbullion.com.

 

From the SEC’s finding, these firms operated a derivatives business without license or registration with the SEC, in violation of Section 16 of the Derivatives Act B.E. 2546 (2003) and thus liable under Section 125 of the same Act to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or a fine not exceeding three hundred thousand baht or both and a further fine not exceeding ten thousand baht for every day during which the violation continues. The SEC therefore filed a criminal complaint with the ECD Police against these firms and the related persons. In this connection, for injured persons from their investment scams, please contact the ECD Police at 0-2237-1199 for further legal proceedings.

 

To prevent damages from the aforesaid schemes, the SEC urges any of investing public who have been contacted or solicited to invest in derivatives products such as gold futures and oil futures, no matter how tempting the offers are, to verify the legitimacy of such solicitor to ensure proper legal protection. A list of licensees is available at the SEC’s website (www.sec.or.th) while a list of those not licensed by the SEC can be viewed under “Investor Alert List” banner. For further investigation, the SEC Help Center welcomes public assistance and reports of suspicious scams or unlicensed activities at tel: 02-263-6000 or complain@sec.or.th.