A man who claims to be the deputy spokesman of the Chartthaipattana Party has been arrested for his alleged involvement in a Ponzi scheme operated by Ufun Store, police said.
The transnational Ponzi scam has allegedly conned about 120,000 people out of more than 20 billion baht.
Sirichok Siriwannapha, 43, was taken before the media yesterday at the Office of the Consumer Protection Police Division.
Mr Sirichok told media that he sold a small amount of land to Ufun executive Arthit Pankaew last year valued at more than 30 million baht.
After the land deal, Mr Arthit invited him to invest in the Ufun scheme, Mr Sirichok added.
A police investigation found he has ties to the scam, said assistant police chief Suwira Songmeta, who leads officers responsible for probing the Ufun Store case.
Officers have declined to say when and where the suspect was arrested.
Evidence showed more than 30 million baht from key suspect Mr Arthit's bank account was transferred to Mr Sirichok's account, police said.
However, Mr Arthit is actually Chinese and his real name is Zhang Jian, police said.
Mr Zhang, who entered Thailand in 2009, is wanted by Chinese police for fraud. He allegedly fled to Vietnam.
Police are considering pressing a money-laundering charge against Mr Sirichok, he added.
The Criminal Court issued a warrant for Mr Sirichok's arrest on June 23 for colluding with other suspects to deceive people out of money and being a member of a transnational crime syndicate, police said.
In response to Mr Sirichok's claim, Pisith Pittayathakulcharoen, who is the registrar for Chartthaipattana Party members, yesterday said Mr Sirichok was never a deputy spokesman for the party.
Though Mr Sirichok was once a party member, he quit in 2011, he added.
Ufun was registered to run an online business for its members as a direct-sales company.