14 years’ jail for Thai woman in $32m luxury goods scam

A Thai woman who masterminded a scheme to cheat almost 200 victims in a luxury goods scam was sentenced to 14 years’ jail on Oct 29.

Pansuk Siriwipa, 30, who joined court proceedings via video link, looked down and nodded when the judge read out the sentence.

On Oct 21, Pansuk pleaded guilty to 30 charges, including for cheating, fraudulent trading and money laundering.

She had collected payments for luxury bags and watches amounting to more than $25 million, despite knowing these orders could not be fulfilled.

She faced a total of 180 charges, with the remaining 150 charges taken into consideration during sentencing.

Pansuk and her Singaporean husband, Pi Jiapeng, 29, made headlines in 2022 as the couple involved in the $32 million luxury goods scam.

Between May and August that year, 187 police reports were filed against their companies, Tradenation and Tradeluxury, for not fulfilling orders even though payments had been made in full.

In sentencing, District Judge Christopher Goh said he found the sentence appropriate and “not crushing”, as it accurately reflects Pansuk’s criminality in this whole scheme.

He said: “There is no escaping the fact that the amount of money involved is huge, amounting to almost $26 million.

“Although there is some degree of overlap between the fraudulent trading charges and the cheating charges... I have only considered the amount in the fraudulent trading charges.”

He noted that even though Pansuk’s and Pi’s companies were operating at a loss, they racked up significant expenditures funded by customer payments – including a house worth more than $2.3 million in Bangkok, which she purchased in her mother’s name.

Pi faces nine charges. His case is pending.

Pansuk and Pi married in September 2020. In May 2021, they started Tradenation to sell luxury watches.

Less than a year later, Pansuk started Tradeluxury to sell luxury bags.

Even when the companies faced financial issues, she continued accepting orders and payments from customers.

Instead of fulfilling orders, Pansuk used the money for personal expenses, such as a $58,000 private jet flight with Pi and their friends, and bought a Chevrolet Corvette registered in Pi’s name.

Pi already owned three other cars then – a Toyota Alphard, a McLaren Coupe and a Porsche Macan.

Pansuk’s transfer of more than $176,000 from her bank account to a car retailer as down payment for the Chevrolet Corvette was traced to money from Tradenation customers and was related to one of her money laundering charges.

Pansuk also used $120,000 of customers’ funds to renovate Tradenation’s retail store in Tanjong Pagar.

When the businesses began, Pansuk sourced luxury goods from Thailand and sold them at prices around 10 per cent to 20 per cent lower than other resellers while still maintaining profits.

But by late 2021 and early 2022, she had trouble sourcing the goods overseas. Both companies began operating at significant losses as they were sourcing their goods locally at a higher price.

Deputy Public Prosecutor David Koh said that by the end of March 2022, the companies had cumulative liabilities of more than $9.3 million in unfulfilled orders, while their assets were worth only around $350,000.

Despite this, Pansuk continued accepting orders for luxury goods.

From March to June 2022, the total amount of payments collected was almost $24.8 million for Tradenation and nearly $947,000 for Tradeluxury, for orders which were eventually unfulfilled.

DPP Koh said the two companies had become a Ponzi scheme, ensnaring more victims in the hope of making payments or deliveries to existing customers.

On one occasion in May 2022, a customer consigned a Rolex to Tradenation to sell for $105,000.

In a consignment arrangement, owners hand over their items for sale, and the shop takes a cut of the proceeds. If no transaction takes place within a stipulated time, the products are returned to the owner.

But Pansuk sold the Rolex for $72,000 and gave some of the money to Pi to pay off his credit card bills and car loans.

DPP Koh sought a jail term of between 14 and 15 years, arguing that despite the companies’ dire financial situation, Pansuk continued to draw a monthly salary of $10,000 and paid Pi a salary ranging from $40,000 to $52,000 monthly.

Her lawyers, Mr Johannes Hadi and Ms Sophia Ng, argued for a jail term ranging from 12 years and eight months to 13 years and seven months.

They said their client is remorseful, and plans to reunite with her family and care for her elderly grandmother.

During investigations, Pansuk and Pi fled from Singapore to Malaysia in a lorry’s container compartment on July 4, 2022.

The two Malaysians who helped them escape were each sentenced to a year’s jail in September 2022.

Source: Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

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