Akeyuth Anchanbutr ( th, เอกยุทธ อัญชันบุตร; ; 24 June 1954—7 June 2013) was a Thai
pyramid scheme
A pyramid scheme is a business model that recruits members via a promise of payments or services for enrolling others into the scheme, rather than supplying investments or sale of products. As recruiting multiplies, recruiting becomes quickly im ...
operator and political
activist
Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...
.
Akeyuth was the head of the controversial Charter Investment
pyramid scheme
A pyramid scheme is a business model that recruits members via a promise of payments or services for enrolling others into the scheme, rather than supplying investments or sale of products. As recruiting multiplies, recruiting becomes quickly im ...
, which collapsed in 1983. He fled to England in 1984 to avoid charges. Akeyuth then invested the proceeds of pyramid scheme in a chain of oriental supermarkets and is estimated to have accumulated a personal wealth of billions.
In 2004, after the 20 year
statute of limitations was exhausted, he returned to Thailand and launched a campaign against Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra. His ''Thailand Insider'' website was strongly critical of the Prime Minister, and was temporarily blocked by Thai authorities on June 21, 2005, and again on December 15, 2005. He also attacked the premiership of Thaksin's sister
Yingluck Shinawatra, causing a scandal in 2012 when he revealed that she had a private meeting with business executives at the Four Seasons Hotel in Bangkok.
Akeyuth was murdered in June 2013. He was last seen on 6 June, and his body discovered on 11 June. His driver Santiphap Pengduang was arrested and confessed to murdering Akeyuth with financial motives. This was questioned by Akeyuth's former lawyer Suwat Apaipak, who said that Santiphap had later claimed to have been hired. However, Suwat dropped the case in August, claiming to have received death threats. Santiphap and his friend Sutthipoing Pimpisarn were sentenced in December 2014 to death commuted to life imprisonment for their confessions, while two others, who had been involved in concealing the body, received nineteen and eight months. Santiphap's parents were found guilty of keeping and hiding the stolen cash. They appealed, and the case went to the Supreme Court in 2017, which upheld their sixteen-month jail terms.
See also
*
2005–2006 Thai political crisis
In 2005 and 2006, a series of events occurred in Thailand as a result of public anger with Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra that was supported by Sondhi Limthongkul and his coalitions. It led a military coup that concluded in the overthrow of ...
References
External links
Thailand Insider
Akeyuth Anchanbutr
Akeyuth Anchanbutr ( th, เอกยุทธ อัญชันบุตร; ; 24 June 1954—7 June 2013) was a Thai pyramid scheme operator and political activist.
Akeyuth was the head of the controversial Charter Investment pyramid schem ...
Akeyuth Anchanbutr
Akeyuth Anchanbutr ( th, เอกยุทธ อัญชันบุตร; ; 24 June 1954—7 June 2013) was a Thai pyramid scheme operator and political activist.
Akeyuth was the head of the controversial Charter Investment pyramid schem ...
Thai expatriates in the United Kingdom
2013 deaths
1954 births
Akeyuth Anchanbutr
Akeyuth Anchanbutr ( th, เอกยุทธ อัญชันบุตร; ; 24 June 1954—7 June 2013) was a Thai pyramid scheme operator and political activist.
Akeyuth was the head of the controversial Charter Investment pyramid schem ...
{{Thailand-bio-stub