Thai woman, 27, pleads guilty to S$25 million luxury goods scam, prosecution seeks 14-15 years' jail

A Thai woman who has racked up 180 charges for her involvement in a luxury goods scam involving more than S$25 million pleaded guilty on Oct. 21.

Pansuk Siriwipa, 30, admitted to 30 charges, including cheating, money laundering and misappropriating luxury goods.

Another 150 charges will be taken into consideration during sentencing on Oct. 29.

Pansuk and her Singaporean husband Pi Jiapeng, 29, were accused of swindling 189 victims millions through their company Tradenation and Tradeluxury.

Pi faces nine charges, and his case is still pending.

What happened

Court documents stated that both companies operated primarily as resellers of luxury watches and bags, respectively, on a pre-order basis.

When customers placed orders, they were required to make full payments in advance before the companies procured and delivered the goods.

Pansuk realised that the companies might be unable to fulfil the accepted orders as the businesses faced supply issues such as shipment delays, high costs, and the inability to meet minimum order quotas.

She was also aware that the duo did not have sufficient funds to overcome the supply challenges, and by February 2022, the companies were in "dire financial straits".

Despite mounting liabilities, Pansuk continued to accept customers’ orders and collect payments because she required the funds to purchase stock to fulfil the earlier orders.

Between March 2022 and June 2022, Tradenation and Tradeluxury collected more than S$25 million, and Pansuk knew they could not fulfil the orders.

By April 2022, neither company had the capacity to deliver any goods anymore.

This resulted in 166 victims not receiving goods or getting their money, a total of S$12 million, back.

Pansuk also misappropriated watches consigned to the companies by customers, and took the money they gain out of selling the watches.

What they spent

Despite the companies' financial condition, Pansuk and Pi continued to spend luxuriously with the money they took from customers.

On Apr. 13, 2022, Pansuk used S$176,361.48 for the purchase of a Chevrolet Corvette C8 2Lt registered in Pi’s name.

At the time, Pi already owned three other cars – a Toyota Alphard, a McLaren and a Porsche Macan S II PDK E6

However, the couple wanted to purchase the Corvette as well.

They also transferred money to Bangkok to fund the purchase of a S$2.35 million property in Pansuk’s mother's name.

Pi continued to receive a salary of $40,000 a month from Tradenation between December 2021 and May 2022, and a salary of S$12,000 a month from Tradeluxury between March 2022 and May 2022.

Pansuk received a salary of S$10,000 a month from Tradenation from January to June 2022.

Pansuk also used S$58,000 from monies traceable to the companies’ bank accounts and customer payments to pay for a private jet flight to Bangkok, to fly the couple, Pi’s mother, Pansuk's friend, some of their business associates and seven of the companies’ regular customers to Bangkok for a holiday.

They also spent S$120,000 on renovations and furniture for a physical retail store for Tradenation at Tanjong Pagar and monthly rental payments of S$5,000 between January and March 2022 for the same shop.

How they got caught

A total of 187 police reports were filed by customers who did not receive their orders.

On Jun. 27, 2022, Pi was arrested on suspicion of cheating but was released on bail. His passport was surrendered to the police as a condition of bail.

However, the couple decided to leave Singapore illegally by hiding in a container compartment of a lorry.

The couple were arrested in Malaysia on Aug. 11, 2022, and were brought back to Singapore.

The prosecution sought a jail term of between 14 and 15 years' jail for Pansuk.

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Top photo via Singapore Police Force Website and Shin Min Daily News