The Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) has confiscated over 5 billion baht worth of assets across 48 cases related to fraud, online gambling, and corruption so far this year.
Amlo secretary-general Theppasu Bavornchotidara, along with Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) assistant secretary-general Bhumivisan Kasemsook, announced the results of Amlo’s 11th Transaction Committee meeting. They revealed that 12,300 assets, valued at 4.5 billion baht, had been seized in these cases.
Among the prominent cases is that of Peempong Hiranprueck, a senior civil engineer at the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s (BMA) Public Works Department, accused of soliciting bribes from a golf course owner in Nong Chok district in exchange for protecting the land during a road construction project. Another case involves the notorious Kofuk online gambling network, led by Sanga “Kofuk” Kungwan, who fled earlier this year amidst charges related to an 18-billion-baht tax fraud and gambling operation.
Amlo has seized 47 million baht in assets from Peempong and Pramual Saengkaewsri, head of the Ratchathewi district office’s revenue section, who accepted bribes from business operators to evade property and land tax.
In the Kofuk case, Amlo confiscated 372 assets, including cash, jewelry, land, and bank accounts, worth a combined 963 million baht from Kungwan and his associates. Additionally, 107 assets totaling 3.1 billion baht were seized in fraud cases where individuals were scammed out of their money. One such case involved Apimuk Bamrungwong, a former major shareholder of More Return Plc (MORE), who is accused of manipulating MORE’s stock in an 800-million-baht fraud last year, leaving investors at a loss.
Another key case involves a network of online gambling websites linked to former deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate “Big Joke” Hakparn. Amlo confiscated 400,000 baht worth of assets in this case, although Pol Gen Surachate is in the process of requesting the cancellation of the asset seizure.
