SINGAPORE – A Thai woman, Pansuk Siriwipa, who once lived a life of luxury selling branded watches and handbags with her Singaporean husband Pi Jiapeng, now faces 14 years in prison. Pansuk was found guilty of 30 charges, including fraud and fraudulent trading, with losses totalling more than S$25 million.
Business Start-up and Financial Problems
The couple started a business called Tradenation in May 2021 to sell luxury watches, followed by the establishment of a second company, Tradeluxury, in January 2022 to sell branded bags. Both their companies adopted a pre-order system, offering prices 10-20% cheaper than local resellers by sourcing goods from overseas suppliers.
However, from late 2021 to early 2022, their business started to suffer due to delivery issues and sourcing difficulties. In February 2022, they realised that both companies did not have sufficient funds to fulfil the orders received. By the end of that month, their company had a net liability of S$1.8 million, which later increased to almost S$9 million by March 2022.
Modes of Fraud
Despite its financial difficulties, Pansuk continued to receive orders and payments from customers. Funds received from pre-orders of Tradeluxury bags were used to complete orders for Tradenation watches. In addition, customers were often asked to sell their goods through a consignment system and reinvest the proceeds for future purchases.
As a result, 166 victims suffered a total loss of S$12 million as the promised goods were never received. Meanwhile, the couple continued to live a lavish lifestyle with the customers’ money. Pansuk received a salary of S$10,000 per month and allocated company funds to purchase a S$2.4 million property in Bangkok in her mother’s name, chartered a S$58,000 private jet for holidays, and made a S$140,000 down payment on a Corvette car in her husband’s name.
Read more : Stocks Soar in China and Hong Kong Amid Stimulus Measures, While Tokyo Faces Decline
Escapes and Arrests
Between May and August 2022, 187 police reports were filed against the couple. After Pi was arrested in June 2022 and released on bail, the couple decided to flee Singapore. In July 2022, they bribed a lorry driver, Mohamed Alias, to smuggle them out of Singapore through Tuas Checkpoint without a passport check.
After their escape was discovered, Singaporean, Thai and Malaysian authorities worked together to trace their whereabouts. On 11 August 2022, they were arrested in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, and handed back to the Singapore Police.
Sentence and Remorse
The court sentenced Pansuk to 14 years’ imprisonment, with the prison term starting in August 2022. Prosecutors said that Pansuk was the mastermind of this massive fraud, which involved 189 victims and became one of the largest fraud schemes in Singapore’s history. Although defence lawyers stated that Pansuk was remorseful, the fraud scheme had caused huge financial losses to the victims.
