A group of more than 40 people have lodged a complaint with the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) against an alleged pyramid scheme that claimed affiliation to a gold-mining operator in Malaysia, accusing it of swindling them out of several million baht.
Samart Jenchaijitawanit, president of the Stop Money Game Association, led the group to submit a letter of complaint on Wednesday to DSI chief Paisit Wongmuang at the agency's headquarters in Laksi district.
It asked him to take legal action against executives of the alleged pyramid scheme operated by Kesumakota Thailand (KKT) so their money could be returned.
Mr Samart said the group members were duped into investing in the business based on false promises of huge returns.
KKT registered with the Department of Business Development in March last year to operate in Thailand with capital of 5 million baht. Its office is located in Narathiwat's Yi-ngo district.
Mr Samart said the group brought along documents specifying the number of shares they purchased in the company.
He said he believes up to 1,000 people were swindled by the company, causing estimated damages of nearly 500 million baht.
Woranun Srilum, head of the DSI's Special Case Management Centre, reportedly accepted the letter from the group of potential plaintiffs.
Investors were taken to the 'Kesumakota mine' and shown the 'real gold' taken there - and then shown photos of a storeroom packed with 'our gold' (below).
According to the alleged victims, the company sold shares to Thai investors at 2,800 baht a share. It promised them the shares would be worth double this after four months, they said.
Thanapong Roukongprasert said he learned about KKT from the company's advertisements on social media. It claimed to guarantee strong returns to those who invested in it, he said.
Mr Thanapong said other investors informed him they had profited from the scheme, which led him to invest nearly 6 million baht by buying 2,045 of the company's shares.
Following an invitation by a KKT representative, he and some other investors visited a facility in Malaysia that KKT claimed was its parent firm, he said.
While there, he witnessed machinery and workers dredging soil and believed KKT was also involved in gold mining, he added.
He said some investors may have profited from their investment in KKT when it first opened but it had failed to pay dividends since last November.
Since then, none of the investors had seen any of the promised returns on their invested capital, he said, adding that the company had said they could expect up to 300 baht a week.
Pol Maj Woranun said that going by the information he had received so far, KKT bears all the hallmarks of a fraudulent investment operation or pyramid scheme.
He said he has ordered a special crime unit to investigate the matter and find out if the claims against the company are legitimate.
KKT could not immediately be reached for comment.