Korn demands that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) explain how they allowed the CAI fund to sell BCPG shares and flee, while Singapore arrests executives and freezes assets worth over 4 billion baht linked to stock manipulation and money laundering in the Thai capital market.
At 10:00 a.m. on 11 March 2026, at the Democrat Party (DP) headquarters, Korn Jatikavanich, party-list MP and deputy leader of the Democrat Party, held a press conference regarding the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Singapore Police Force (SPF) cracking down on a transnational money laundering network. They arrested two senior executives of Capital Asia Investments (CAI) and froze assets totaling more than 160 million Singapore dollars, equivalent to about 4 billion baht. However, Thai agencies—the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO)—have taken no action on the case involving the use of the stock market for money laundering by a gray capital group and scammers defrauding Thai people, causing annual losses exceeding 100 billion baht. The party had warned the SEC and AMLO since 20 November 2025 and has submitted additional documents and issued statements to follow up on this matter continuously.
Korn added that while Singaporean authorities have taken action against the CAI fund, the Thai SEC and AMLO have yet to act, even though CAI was involved in stock manipulation on the Thai Stock Exchange. Previously, CAI held 16 million shares in BCPG, a subsidiary of Bangchak Corporation, which the party had urged the SEC and AMLO to investigate. Yet, these two agencies did not expand their investigation and allowed CAI to sell almost all its BCPG shares, transferring funds out of the country and causing damage. Meanwhile, Singaporean authorities have arrested suspects, investigated, and confirmed CAI's involvement in money laundering and stock manipulation in the Thai market.
Confusion over Thai agencies' inaction.
"I question why, after AMLO saw Bangchak's behavior and issued an order to freeze the sale of BCPG shares, no action was taken against other shares held by CAI, allowing CAI to sell BCPG shares as a way to flee. According to Thai law, the SEC requires anyone buying or selling shares below a 5% holding threshold to report to the SEC. However, CAI sold 5.62% of BCPG shares without any report to the SEC. Even worse, the SEC allowed CAI to continue operating without any measures, when it should have coordinated with AMLO to act under the Securities Market Act, resulting in this damage."
Questioning AMLO and the SEC.
Korn also questioned the government overseeing AMLO and the SEC, asking what obstacles or explanations it has for the Thai public regarding the failure of these two agencies to timely protect Thai interests. Despite government announcements to combat gray capital and scammers, Singapore has arrested and confirmed stock manipulation and money laundering in the Thai stock market, causing harm to defrauded citizens. Instead of seizing these funds to compensate Thai victims, the damage persists. The Democrat Party had previously warned the government and these two agencies to promptly investigate thoroughly. Furthermore, CAI still holds other shares in the Thai stock market that have not been frozen and remain under these individuals' names. He asked how and when the government, SEC, and AMLO will act to track, freeze, investigate, and seize assets to compensate Thai victims of fraud.
Questioning whether there is reluctance due to influence.
When asked if the Democrat Party would pursue criminal charges against the SEC and AMLO, Korn said the party would wait for explanations from the SEC and AMLO regarding reasons or problems preventing action. From the party's perspective, the problems and risks are clear. They will wait for clarifications before deciding on further steps. He also raised suspicions about whether there is reluctance due to influence, citing evidence linking CAI to prominent government political figures and the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society's iris scan MOU case. The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) pointed out that the contracting company is part of the CAI group, with images showing Ben Smith involved on the contract signing day. The party bases its stance on evidence, not on circulated photos of Ben Smith dining with certain people.
"The political party poised to be the current coalition government may be partly responsible for the failure of Thai agencies to produce tangible results in eliminating money laundering and scammers in the Thai capital market. This excludes those who signed contracts at the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society at the time, now the SEC chairman, which discourages Thai society from seeing serious efforts to combat gray capital. Despite the importance of this issue, the Democrat Party will continue and await explanations before deciding to proceed in fighting scammers who use the Thai economy and capital market to launder money derived from exploiting Thai people." Korn concluded.