Justice Minister Somsak Thepsutin is pressing the Department of Special Investigation to accept a case against a foreign-exchange trading company as more victims have shown up.
Mr Somsak said on Thursday he would like the agency to look into the case due to the extensive damage to the victims of Forex 3D, an online firm promising handsome profits from foreign exchange trading.
About 100 victims filed a complaint with the DSI on Friday. The number of victims has risen to more than 2,000, demanding claims of over 400 million baht, after they could file the complaints by scanning a QR code.
Lawyer Ronnarong Kaewphet said on Friday that the online foreign exchange website had 30,000 members in Thailand and a revolving fund of about 40 billion baht.
The lawyer met the minister again on Thursday to lobby for the DSI to look into the case as it did with the Mae Manee Ponzi scam.
One of the latest victims was Warapairin Thanawarisporn, an actress who accompanied the lawyer to the meeting.
Warapairin, also a former MP candidate for the Chartthaipattana Party, said she had invested about 2 million baht with the company and had not received any return.
The actress said she had decided to put the money into the scheme after visiting the company, which she found credible. She also posted a message on her Instagram account complaining about the firm, saying she has not received any return for six months and cannot contact the staff responsible for the matter.
DSI director-general Paisit Wongmuang on Thursday remained undecided whether to look into the case, saying only that it was in the process of interrogating all investors filing the problems with the agency.
Forex-3D has not responded to the issue but postd a warning message at the bottom of the website. "Forex-3D, currency exchange trading is high risk. Investors should understand the risks and learn more," it said.
According to the website forexbrokerz.com, which reviews brokerages worldwide, Forex-3D is a Bangkok-based and family owned, unlicensed online currency broker providing an unregulated service that it does not recommend and rates as "highly suspicious".
The DSI is under the Justice Ministry but the decision whether to accept a case rests with its nine-member committee. By law, it may handle cases which are complex; potentially affect peace, order, good morality, foreign relations or economic or fiscal systems; involve international crime or influential people or cases where high-ranking adminitrative officials or policemen are suspects.