The Criminal Court in Bangkok delivered a mixed verdict on Thursday in one of Thailand's most expansive financial fraud prosecutions, acquitting actress Savika "Pinky" Chaiyadej along with her mother and brother while convicting five other defendants in the Forex-3D investment scheme that defrauded thousands of investors across Southeast Asia.
The court's judgment, delivered after proceedings that began at 9am, resulted in nominal prison sentences totalling 49,110 years imposed collectively on the five convicted defendants, with a financial restitution order of 4.911 billion baht. The astronomical sentence figure reflects Thailand's judicial practice of accumulating penalties across thousands of individual criminal counts, though the effective term would be substantially reduced under statutory limitations that typically cap sentences at 20 years. This combined prosecution involved 24 defendants altogether, making it one of the largest fraud trials to emerge from the scheme's investigation.
Pinky's acquittal comes after she and two family members spent considerable time navigating the Thai court system. She initially faced detention at the Central Women's Correctional Institution before securing bail on November 30, 2022, when her supporters posted a 5-million-baht security bond. Throughout the proceedings, she maintained her defence that her involvement in Forex-3D was purely as a passive investor who never actively recruited participants or received commissions for bringing new members into the scheme. Her legal team argued that she bore no responsibility for the scheme's fraudulent operations.
The case represents the culmination of an investigation that began in 2019 when the Department of Special Investigation registered thousands of complaints as special case number 153/2562, ultimately identifying more than 9,800 victims who collectively lost over 2.48 billion baht. Between November 2015 and September 2020, operators allegedly marketed Forex-3D through a website and Facebook pages, presenting it as a legitimate foreign-exchange trading platform managed by supposedly professional traders. The scheme positioned itself as requiring minimal investor sophistication, promising guaranteed returns on principal investments alongside substantial profit sharing.
The operation structured itself around tiered investment levels, beginning with a US$500 minimum that was later increased to US$2,000 as the scheme expanded its reach. High-tier investors could commit up to US$40,000, with operators claiming they would deliver 60-80 percent profit participation from foreign-exchange trading activities. What made the scheme particularly attractive to victims was the explicit guarantee of 100 percent principal protection combined with monthly and annual returns, an offer designed to appeal to risk-averse investors seeking passive income. The scheme's expansion relied on existing participants to introduce new investors, with recruitment incentives further encouraging referrals that created a pyramid structure.
Investigators discovered that despite the sophisticated marketing claims, Forex-3D operators never possessed the necessary Finance Ministry licence to conduct foreign-exchange trading, as later confirmed by the Bank of Thailand. The scheme operated entirely outside regulatory frameworks, using investor funds for purposes unrelated to legitimate currency trading. When authorities arrested the alleged scheme architect, Apiruk Kothi, in January 2021 at a Bangkok condominium in the Thonglor area, officers recovered substantial assets including a Lamborghini, luxury watches, and significant bank records, suggesting that scheme operators had diverted investor capital for personal enrichment.
The Forex-3D investigation eventually splintered into multiple prosecutions against different categories of participants, distinguishing between operators, recruiters and public figures accused of promoting the scheme. A separate criminal court proceeding concluded in December 2024 resulted in the acquittal of singer Suteewan "Baitoey" Kunchorn and former husband Pattanapon "DJ Man" Minthakhin, along with Singaporean national Daryl Cai Yonghui. Three defendants in that parallel case were convicted on 9,825 counts, receiving nominal sentences of 49,125 years that were subsequently capped at the statutory maximum of 20 years each, with restitution obligations approaching 2.478 billion baht including accrued interest.
The case carries significant implications for Thailand's ongoing efforts to combat sophisticated financial fraud schemes that exploit regulatory gaps and leverage social media platforms for rapid victim recruitment. The involvement of public figures and celebrities in promoting or participating in such schemes has prompted heightened scrutiny of influencers and entertainment personalities who endorse investment products. For Malaysian and regional audiences, the Forex-3D case serves as a cautionary example of how international investment scams can operate across borders, targeting investors who may lack the sophistication to evaluate complex financial products or recognise regulatory red flags.
The prosecution of Apiruk and his associates represented a comprehensive attempt to hold scheme operators accountable for defrauding nearly 10,000 people, though the judicial outcomes have been mixed. Acquittals of some defendants, including Pinky and her family members, suggest that Thai courts applied rigorous evidentiary standards requiring direct evidence of involvement in fraudulent misrepresentation or unlawful financial activities. The conviction of five co-defendants, by contrast, indicates that investigators successfully established their roles in orchestrating or facilitating the scheme's operations. The eventual imposition of statutory sentence caps at 20 years for convicted defendants means that despite the nominal sentence figures, actual incarceration will be substantially less, reflecting Thai judicial practice of avoiding lifetime imprisonment through nominally excessive sentences.
