Senators recommend the government to issue an emergency decree to solve the pyramid scheme problem. "Chulaphan" explained that he is preparing to amend the law to be up-to-date, accepting the proposal to issue an emergency decree, confirming that there is no fixed fight, moving forward with the case, seizing assets, and deciding whether to evade taxes or not after checking 18 bosses, some of whom did not submit tax forms for 3-5 years, and expanding the investigation into the "wealthy angels" to bring the perpetrators to justice to be fully prosecuted. Lt. Cdr. Wuttipong Phongsuwan, a member of the Senate, asked the Prime Minister about the pyramid scheme that has had a huge impact on the economy of society since the past, such as the Mae Chamoi and Sema Fa Kham schemes, and most recently, the Icon Group scheme, which behaves no differently from the previous pyramid schemes. However, the laws related to pyramid schemes are not up to date with the current era, causing people to fall victim to them, with famo us and credible individuals attracting them, as well as their behavior using online media, which multiplies the problem exponentially, and the use of informal money or cryptocurrency. Therefore, he recommended that the government issue a royal decree because it is an urgent and necessary matter, or amend the law to be up-to-date. He wanted the government to promise that this will not be a fixed fight to trick the audience, and to do it seriously so that it does not happen again, because those involved in this case are not just The Icon, but many other pyramid schemes. He also believes that the Thai baht has disappeared, and money will be laundered abroad. Mr. Chulaphan Amornvivat, Deputy Minister of Finance, said that the Prime Minister attaches great importance to this issue and has assigned relevant agencies to take action, including the Royal Thai Police, the Ministry of Justice, the Consumer Protection Board, and the Ministry of Finance. In terms of operations, the operation was quite rapid and many peop le involved were arrested and assets were seized. All of these are under the jurisdiction of the Royal Thai Police. In terms of real estate and various accounts, the resolution of the problem has been expedited. This issue involves several laws, including the Direct Sales and Direct Marketing Act of 2002, the Fraudulent Borrowing of Money Act of 1984, the Consumer Protection Act of 1979, the Criminal Code of 1956, the Computer Crime Act of 2017, and the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 1999. As you can see, many laws have reached the stage for review. The Ministry of Finance has not been idle, as a policy agency. The Fiscal Policy Office has drafted many laws in the past. But it must be admitted that in the past, when a royal decree was drafted and issued, there was no clear person in charge. In the end, it was assigned to those who acted in accordance with the law, namely the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Interior, to take care of it. And the mechanism in the past had to wait for someone to file a comp laint and the Fiscal Policy Office would collect them to take legal action against the relevant agencies. It must be admitted that the Fiscal Policy Office is not an agency that the public would think of when filing complaints about various matters. Initially, there was a discussion about the relevant laws, whether it is time to amend the law, which will require amending the law that has been issued since 1984 in many issues, which is currently in the drafting stage, not yet in detail, and the mechanism must follow the process, which is believed to take no more than 2-3 months to complete because this matter is considered urgent. 'The main issues raised in the amendment of the 1984 Act are the provisions that allow the agencies to take action to the main network. The current law still has loopholes, so it needs to be amended and the punishments increased, some of which are not proportionate to the damages that have occurred. The statute of limitations must also be adjusted. When the case reaches the statute of limitations, the AMLO law will take action on various assets. However, the statute of limitations, in the case where the accused flees, can cause the statute of limitations to expire. The statute of limitations also changes the person in charge of the law, because the Fiscal Policy Office is the agency with the power to implement it, a policy agency. It is believed that the mechanism that will be most beneficial is for the people who hold this law to be agencies related to the Ministry of Justice, such as the DSI, to come in and hold the law so that the case is in the hands of the implementers and can operate in a one-stop manner for the people who are suffering,' said Mr. Chulaphan. Mr. Chulaphan added that the matter of bankruptcy filing still needs to be adjusted. The current mechanism for bankruptcy filing is that the Ministry of Finance must proceed with the submission of bankruptcy filings through the Office of the Attorney General, which will be adjusted to be more open. The Royal Thai Police may b e allowed to proceed with bankruptcy filings. 'Important amendments are to keep up with the current situation, which must be acknowledged that fraud patterns have changed a lot and are diverse. They will not stop here. Therefore, the law must be flexible and adapt to new techniques and tricks of offenders, which makes it necessary for the government to adapt. The law will be amended within the next 2-3 months to close various loopholes. Hopefully, the amendments that will occur soon will be able to prevent fraud in various cases,' said Mr. Chulaphan. Lieutenant Commander Wuttipong asked further that some things that require speed can be proposed as a royal decree, while if it is a royal decree proposed according to the process, it may take no less than 5-6 months. Therefore, what can be done on behalf of the people is to issue a royal decree to solve problems. If there are changes in the details, the government must use tools to solve such problems promptly to stop the bleeding from the country any further. He explained that blood is money in various currencies that can be exchanged from baht to cryptocurrency that is transferred out. He asked the minister to help enact laws that will make these laws sacred and truly help the people. Mr. Chulaphan stood up to explain again, stating that when the government takes legal action regarding finance and treasury, it usually chooses the channels in the royal decree because this case falls under the framework of issuing a royal decree quite a bit. It is a matter of national security and stability, and it is necessary to do it urgently. In the mind of the Ministry of Finance, it will be issued as a royal decree. As for the tax, he confirmed that the investigation of 18 people has been completed retrospectively, with some not filing taxes for 3-5 years, which is not the end. They will have to investigate how they avoided it, so please do not worry. He also confirmed that there was no fixed fight. We will take action to the end. As for the angel, he saw the Prime Minister' s intention that we are serious. He believes that when it reaches the police, when they go to check the audio clip, they will expand the investigation to the end. He confirmed that the government will take action to the end and bring the perpetrators to justice. Source: Thai News Agency
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