Santi Bhirombakadi
Thailand Investors Scam- Don't trust [email protected]
I am a small business owner in the UK and was recently looking for investors. I was contacted by someone posing who said he was Santi Bhirmobakadi and was interested in investing. I did some research around who Santi Bhrimobakadi was and it seemed a genuine enough proposal. What’s really annoying is that had I just added the word SCAM infront of his name I would have found this thread.
We exchanged emails over 3 months and even spoke on the phone. He seemed to know all about Santi and his investment moves as I asked him a number of drilling questions as to why he wanted to invest. All his emails were very proffesionally written. For example:
“As you already know I also want the right of first refusal should there be need for more investors or funds in future during the contract. Again, we can leave a window open in the contract where after a few years or at the end of contract we may discuss the option of diluting the debt finance investment into full equity on mutual terms to be agreed by both parties. We have since established our willingness and capacity to go the long term but choose the preference of a gradual approach towards this goal. Funds transfer shall be in tranches with the first being £200,000 GBP and we can work out formula for disbursement of the remainder after our first board meeting to complete to the £350,000 initial investment requirement, with a phased approach setting milestone targets until full disbursement.
My participation means both in capital, management experience and industry contacts, rest assured that these will be made available to ensure we succeed in this partnership, widely promoting the project to the market and improve expected yield. And my intention is for a long term relationship as I have always been looking for a suitable low-cost but high yield opportunity and this is quite adequate to my expectations, which hopefully with our strong ethics and dedication to work we can actualize our mutual goals in partnership. Moving along to achieve the target of establishing international network opportunity with the venture, here I see a major opportunity that will be highly rewarding.
On your acceptance, we will enter into an agreement as guidance for our relationship and roles, of which you providing your banking coordinates where the investment portfolio will be transferred into. Your local bank’s contact details will also be required so my bank can open up communication with your bankers to ensure a smooth operation and do their own verification, while I will present you with proof of funds from my bank to proceed, with your full cooperation we can close in 21-30days given as timeline.
If you accept the listed terms in the sheet, then I expect to receive your confirmation to proceed to the next steps for us to sign the MOU agreement/contract which involves the paperwork both on the foreign and Thai compliance sides and then disbursement as earlier explained. You have also been informed about the Thai registration requirement as well as our setting up of the holding company. On my part I’m willing and committed to ensure within the 21-30days given as timeline as soon as we have cleared the partnership structure and paperwork end to transfer the investment sum and look forward to your full cooperation to achieve this target.
My schedule is very busy this period but I have already discussed with my team for arrangements to visit by early May to witness business process operations on ground. In return I can host you at our resort if you play golf, sure you will enjoy the exquisite environment ambiance and additional features we have made available for a pleasing experience to our guests. I look forward to a long term business partnership where we can as well explore other rewarding opportunities together.
My own personal team of experts will be available to guide you, don’t hesitate to contact me should you need any clarification. Please review this with your books, let me know your comments and we may hold another conference to analyze all the details together on Wednesday-Thursday when I should be available. I hope to hear from you soon. Thanks”
After more email exchanges he asked me to pay a registration fee of $3185 USD to register with the Thai Government. He had access to Thai government papers. He then went on to say there was a problem and further funds would need to be paid and that his assistant would now be dealing with it as he was ill. This is when the alarm bells started to ring and I realised it was a scam. His assistance name was Ooi Thanprayong
I have now learnt this was a dirty scam an he was actually someone pretending to be Santi Bhirombakadi.
The details this man gave me were:
Karnjana Kumkot
ACCOUNT NO:064-145-1134
BENEFICIARY NAME:KARNJANA KUMKOT
ADDRESS: 3132 LADPRAORD KLONGJAN,
BANGKAPI, THAILAND 10240
BANK NAME: KASIKORNBANK PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED.
ADDRESS: 1 Soi RatBurana 27/1, Rat Burana Road, Khwaeng Rat Burana, Khet Rat Burana, Bangkok10140,
THAILAND. SWIFT CODE: KASITHBK
He is pretending to be Sant Bhirmobakadi which is even more worrying as he is a reputable business man which this guy is ruining his name here in the UK
My bank can’t do much as it was me that authorised the payment but I do feel really stupid and annoyed with myself. I wish there was a way of ensuring that such scams caught be found more easily on the Internet as that’s the first place everyone goes to check things out. I hope this helps is preventing further such scams of innocent, honest and hardworking people who are trying to make their business ideas a success
MITRPHOL.CO THAITCB.COM [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
“Mitr Phol has recently been informed of a fraudulent email which asks for business operation and information. The message is sent from the email address which is similar to Mitr Phol’s official email address.
Mitr Phol would like to inform you that the only verified email address is @mitrphol.com If you receive this mentioned fraudulent email, please do not reply, click any links or open any files, and please verify with Mitr Phol’s representatives in contact with you promptly or Mitr Phol Corporate Communications Division
if you have any further questions please let me know.”
Hi,
This message is regarding your online post for investment. If the project is still open to investors participation, I would be glad to discuss this with you to explore the opportunity. We are interested in this space and wish to receive from you the project information and projections to review with my investment team. I look forward to your response.
—
Regards,
Isara Vongkusolkit, Ph.D.
Chairman,
Mitr Phol Group
I acknowledge receipt of your response and interested to explore ways to investment. It was my investment consultant (Praya Thanon) that brought the project to my notice while I decided to reach out myself.
For over four decades I have been in charge of several successful businesses and I am still active till date. Mitr Phol Group is family-owned organization where I currently serve as the President being the patriarch of the family, even while I have also started several companies from the scratch myself which are doing well till date. We are a proudly Thai company that have become Asia’s biggest sugar and bioenergy producer. We started out initially dealing on sugar trading before we expanded into manufacturing & production, food technology and subsequently into Energy, logistics, paper, petrochemicals and construction etc. We are present in over seven countries across Asia and have recently included investments in Australia. Our headquarters is located in Khlong Toei, Bangkok, Thailand.
Our major business being sugar processing, we have been trading since 1946 and currently run a total of 14 sugar mills worldwide with a yearly sugarcane processing capacity of about 20 million tonnes which yields around 2 million tonnes per year of sugar output. We also own a hospitality chain with five hotels under our brand across the region, while also holding majority stake in power generation and coal mining companies. We also own investments in a range of fashion stores included in our hotel/hospitality chain.
Asides this, I have been investing in property as a speculator, with a revenue returns of $300 million in the last fiscal year, I think our balance sheet looks pretty robust. Reason why I have expanded into other markets and making private investments in other sectors, so far I have financed several other projects across different sectors and they are currently doing good. Even though my record is public knowledge as an investor, I have made effort to give a brief background of myself for your understanding and would be available to answer any more clarification you may require.
Anyway I will review the file you have just sent and return to you. After then we may go ahead to schedule a chat to discuss our investment capability. If you so choose you may send your standard NDA as well for signing so we may be free to share information both ways. Thank you.
—
Regards,
Isara Vongkusolkit, Ph.D.
Chairman,
Mitr Phol Group
Copies of the completed project registration documents with its relevant Outbound Investment Clearance Statement(s) as processed and endorsed shall be sent in two forms. Soft-copies and Hard-copies. Soft-copies shall be emailed to you upon completion of the registration process while Hard-copies will be couriered to your submitted postal/mailing address through our registered courier post -Thailand.
Thank you as we expect your maximum professional understanding, to enable us guide and assist both you and your informed participating Thai-partner the best in order to achieve your set goal over the inquired Thai project registration procedure. We attest to work round the clock to serve you the best.
Ooi S. Sirisriwan,
TTCB Bangkok.
FRAUD
[email protected] [email protected] and [email protected]
FRAUD
[email protected] and [email protected]
Isara Vongkusolkit scam
Beware of emails like this one that came from a trusted source of ours – seems like a well-worn routine impersonating a Thai billionaire Isara Vongkusolkit
FINANCE TERMS & CONDITIONS
Note: Investor’s participation is in private capacity from the Kingdom of Thailand:
This paper is explaining the sample terms & conditions of offering by the investor is generic in nature for
the financing structure and is subject to further review and negotiations between the investor and
entrepreneur/project owner.
The key stages involve evaluation, approval and disbursement.
Terms:
Amount of Money Available (Size of our Portfolio): USD $304,700,000.00)
Maturity: not exceeding 10 years
Interest Returns Rate: Negotiable
Security: Pledged Equity/Shares Negotiable
Early Repayment Penalties: Nil
Late/Missed Payment Penalties: Compound interest of; principal + agreed interest + missed
payment
Payment Schedule: Eg. Interest payments calculated from principal and paid annually on a
reducing balance basis.
Conditions:
This is a hybrid of equity and debt finance arrangement. Communication and negotiation shall be
directly with the Entrepreneur/project owner. Funds transfer shall be through bank transfer to the
designated bank account of the Entrepreneur’s company.
The Entrepreneur shall agree to provide the Investor’s bank, a Thailand registration certificate
for authorization in accordance with the provisions of Thai foreign business and finance
regulatory laws, we can refer you to the legal compliance & finance offices to assist your
company in procuring the registration documents & notary statement as stipulated by Thai law
and any charges incurred in the business registration and notarization process will be the
responsibility of the Entrepreneur, in adherence to Thai foreign business and
Investment/Finance and governing laws.
The Thai registration will stand in the form of insurance to protect against credit-related losses
in the investment portfolio as required by Thai outbound investment regulatory law, bearing
the original data and basic information on business identity, location, business modalities in
stake for a guaranteed returns value, viz, the security and recovery of the investment principal
as and when due, and what the investment reads in agreements of funds disbursement into the
Entrepreneurs’ corporate bank account. This business registration and notarization processes
should be completed before the disbursement of the investment.
isara vongkusolkit investment scam
This scam is still going on. I had few convincing scammers from Angel Investment network. And this one was very believable, he even signed the NDA under Isara’s name and after exchanging few emails, I realised it was a scam, I guess scammers are getting so good at this and asking the right questions as the investor would ask.
I would please urge to be aware, Usually a red flag for me is that if they are not listening to your pitch on video as video is the main route these days then be aware – always add scam at the end of the company name or invdviudal you are dealing with, if anything comes up its a scam and if its seems to good to be true or moving too quick – then definitely dont. be afraid to double check
Similar Discussion with "Isara"
We are a small start-up from UK and are raising investment to support product development and staff expenses. We posted recently on LinkedIn and angel investment group for investment.
I am having talks with the person “Isara” claiming to be Chairman of Mitr Phol Groups and an interest in investment.
Upon surface research it looks legit with a LinkedIn presence (though no posts) and a company looking email address [email protected] which on top said is associated with the company.
Last week, we even spoke on phone a few times (though connection was getting disconnected) I thought that might be fine as he informed he was traveling.
Couple of days ago they came back to me that everything is going on great, and working on this investment proposal swiftly and would like more documents (some legal and ID documents) for Thai regulations in order to set up money transfers and also to make sure everything is in right order before committing to invest as it is a high risk investing with no security or not much assets.
Everything was well professionally written with a person touch.
They mentioned the proposal came from an investment consultant and Isara is personally handling it as he seems investment like a marriage and wants to make sure everything is in order before putting money into it as he’s worked hard enough to be in the place he is in. He even mentioned that the proposal came through a person “Praya Thanon” which again, no LinkedIn posts but account exists and some connections too with background being advisory and investment consultant.
Now that they asked for some legal and id documents I’ve been doing some deeper research on them and I have now found these scam threads and don’t know what to make out of it. Looks like I’ve just been wasting time in engaging with this person, whoever that is.
FBI: Notice of Isara Vongkusolkit Angel Investment Network London Scam
Date 02/11/2023
Isara Vongkusolkit angel investment scam. [email protected] mitrphol.co thaitcb.com [email protected] [email protected]
“Regarding your inquiry about suspicious emails, we would like to provide you with the following important information.
Mitr Phol has recently been informed of a fraudulent email which asks for business operation and information. The message is sent from the email address which is similar to Mitr Phol’s official email address.
Mitr Phol would like to inform you that the only verified email address is @mitrphol.com If you receive this mentioned fraudulent email, please do not reply, click any links or open any files, and please verify with Mitr Phol’s representatives in contact with you promptly or Mitr Phol Corporate Communications Division
if you have any further questions please let me know.”
I acknowledge receipt of your response and interested to explore ways to investment. It was my investment consultant (Praya Thanon) that brought the project to my notice while I decided to reach out myself.
For over four decades I have been in charge of several successful businesses and I am still active till date. Mitr Phol Group is family-owned organization where I currently serve as the President being the patriarch of the family, even while I have also started several companies from the scratch myself which are doing well till date. We are a proudly Thai company that have become Asia’s biggest sugar and bioenergy producer. We started out initially dealing on sugar trading before we expanded into manufacturing & production, food technology and subsequently into Energy, logistics, paper, petrochemicals and construction etc. We are present in over seven countries across Asia and have recently included investments in Australia. Our headquarters is located in Khlong Toei, Bangkok, Thailand.
Our major business being sugar processing, we have been trading since 1946 and currently run a total of 14 sugar mills worldwide with a yearly sugarcane processing capacity of about 20 million tonnes which yields around 2 million tonnes per year of sugar output. We also own a hospitality chain with five hotels under our brand across the region, while also holding majority stake in power generation and coal mining companies. We also own investments in a range of fashion stores included in our hotel/hospitality chain.
Asides this, I have been investing in property as a speculator, with a revenue returns of $300 million in the last fiscal year, I think our balance sheet looks pretty robust. Reason why I have expanded into other markets and making private investments in other sectors, so far I have financed several other projects across different sectors and they are currently doing good. Even though my record is public knowledge as an investor, I have made effort to give a brief background of myself for your understanding and would be available to answer any more clarification you may require.
Anyway I will review the file you have just sent and return to you. After then we may go ahead to schedule a chat to discuss our investment capability. If you so choose you may send your standard NDA as well for signing so we may be free to share information both ways. Thank you.
—
Regards,
Isara Vongkusolkit, Ph.D.
Chairman,
Mitr Phol Group
Asbic Investment Singapore
Another budding scammer in the name of Asbic Investment, Singapore following the same methodology to establish his business. Please be aware of this company, or if a person with name Teng Srinivasan shows interest in your project for investment.
Another one
Currently also in the process with Mr. Isara and his team, but found out through here that it is not actually them.
we were with our company on angel investment network and had a lot of scammers, but this one seems to be pretty good.
I even got to send Mr.Isara his paspoort.
They haven’t come up with the registration fee yet but they will soon probaby.
My question is, did all of you also got Mr.Isara his actual paspoort pdf?
And I see something about actual Thai goverment documents?
I am also dealing with him now, since he sent me mail to investing in my business and started correspondence to advancing me to getting legal fee
I did not pay anything yet, but continuing corresponding to go ahead,
Scam
I just realized the attachments were not coming through in my last messages. Sorry for the omission, I am sending again. Please confirm if you receive it this time.
Note the sheet is a sample and not an offer, the amount available is the size of funds readily available for the portfolio and not to be injected into a single project. That said I need to provide more explanation so we can be on the same page with the model proposed.
In order to give you proper context prior to our discussion, I wish to explain further on the investment model I proposed and what we bring to the table in value as well. As described in my previous messages this is not a straight debt finance investment but a hybrid of equity and debt finance closer to a convertible debt arrangement. However in order to clarify further for a better and clearer understanding, we will use this hypothesis.
For example, if my offer is for the entire x Million USD @ 6% interest rate for 10years with a 3years moratorium or grace period and with 30% pledged equity held. The investment will be as private investment (using Mitr Phol Group) not institutional as we are no bank or venture capital.
The 30% equity will be held on silent partner basis as pledged security collateralized (which may later be translated to a buyback as per convertible debt terms) until full repayment of investment amount at maturity of tenor, the interests terminates with the full repayment of the principal x Million USD with no early payment penalty. The moratorium or grace period is for the first three years during which time no interest will neither be earned nor paid, interest accrues only from the fourth year. Also, in the event of conversion into full equity shareholding, this will be done at the time at the prevailing competitive market rates. Unlike a conventional bank loan, I will participate actively in my full capacity to influence the venture success, not just in providing funds alone.
The pledged equity is on shares, and is only on temporary basis to be held until full repayment. It is not expected for equity to be transferred until necessary, rather it will be noted both in principle and in a binding contract as pledged equity. For the mentioned Thai registration, the investment will be routed through this structure, which will also be holding the pledged equity and the repayments the same. We will put you through with the right contacts in this regard to make sure you are properly guided.
We have a preference for annual payment of interests with the capital fully repaid at maturity, this is the buy back scenario we proposed. The equity held is only temporary, if you repay the full investment capital within the maturity of the total 10years tenor agreed then I will agree to release back 20% of the pledged equity back to you and hold only 10% on a permanent basis of full equity investment moving forward. This pledged equity are non-participatory and will not earn any shareholding rights or ROI profits but the interest terminates at maturity of tenor while dilution of shares could occur when the permanent equity could became activated.
We are currently invested in F&B, FMCG manufacturing, agro tech, hospitality, health, financial and tech startups, sports and fitness as well as our other cross sector partnerships with sports team which we also use in turn for brand promotion and marketing. These in addition to our investments in healthcare being on board Bumrungrad International Hospital Group which is one of the largest in the region. As you know I will not only participate with capital financing alone, I come to the table with deep business experience, networks, market presence all adding value to the venture to optimal returns and this reward will be commensurate with the value I believe I possess which I bring along with my participation in partnership. I do not accept a commission based reward to our partnership rather I wish to become a long-term partner of the success story we will achieve together.
Please do not misunderstand the scenario described above as an offer, I am only trying to clearly explain the hybrid model I proposed. I cannot make you any promises yet until my team have completed evaluation and risk assessment on the project. We will then present and offer with terms and conditions specific to this project. If further interested we can go ahead to schedule a chat to discuss more in details. Thanks.
—
Regards,
Isara Vongkusolkit, Ph.D.
Chairman,
Mitr Phol Group
We were approached from an individual claimed to be Isara Vongkusolkit. The dialogue was very simular as shared on this platform. When I was required to make the transfer though, I asked the account/solicitor Ooi Suparpol for a copy of the passport as he is the receiver of the funds as well from Isara Vongkusolkit for the purpose of the eventual transfer of the funds. They bith felt secure enough to send these copies. I forwarded these to the Thai consulate here in London as well all the addresss given within the MOU and trasnfer details. I hope that this will have consequences which at least will make it more difficult for these people to commit this fraught.
Did you report this to police?
They tried to pull this same scam but we luckily found this information after their “offer”
Please report this to police
Same SCAM, different name
In May 2020 we had the same stuff happening, this guy just changed his name to Isara Vongkusolkit, also a respected person in Thai business area.
We were offered 250K USD, and even had a call with them.
Right before transferring the 3000 USD we have found your post, and understood that we have a problem here 🙂
Thank you for your post here!
We have just gained the same experience as you. 2 month of chat with a pseudo Isara Vongkusolkit resulting in a 10 mio € offer last week. The 6285$ bill from the non registered “attorney” Ooi Suparpol made us luckily supicious enough to dig deeper.
Since all fell for this fraud or almost fell we should exchange our information and experiences in a more private surrounding.
Grretings from Germany
Isara
Thank you for your post. I have also recieved an email from the supposed “Isara Vongkusolkit”. Sender address: [email protected]
Here is the body of his email:
I acknowledge receipt of your response and interested to explore ways to investment. It was my investment consultant that brought the project to my notice while I decided to reach out myself.
For over four decades I have been in charge of several successful businesses and I am still active till date. Mitr Phol Group is family-owned organization where I currently serve as the President being the patriarch of the family, even while I have also started several companies from the scratch myself which are doing well till date. We are a proudly Thai company that have become Asia’s biggest sugar and bioenergy producer. We started out initially dealing on sugar trading before we expanded into manufacturing & production, food technology and subsequently into Energy, logistics, paper, petrochemicals and construction etc. We are present in over seven countries across Asia and have recently included investments in Australia. Our headquarters is located in Khlong Toei, Bangkok, Thailand.
Our major business being sugar processing, we have been trading since 1946 and currently run a total of 14 sugar mills worldwide with a yearly sugarcane processing capacity of about 20 million tonnes which yields around 2 million tonnes per year of sugar output. We also own a hospitality chain with five hotels under our brand across the region, while also holding majority stake in power generation and coal mining companies. We also own investments in a range of fashion stores included in our hotel/hospitality chain.
Asides this, I have been investing in property as a speculator, with a revenue returns of $300 million in the last fiscal year, I think our balance sheet looks pretty robust. Reason why I have expanded into other markets and making private investments in other sectors, so far I have financed several other projects across different sectors and they are currently doing good. Even though my record is public knowledge as an investor, I have made effort to give a brief background of myself for your understanding and would be available to answer any more clarification you may require.
Anyway I will review the file you have just sent and return to you. After then we may go ahead to schedule a chat to discuss our investment capability. If you so choose you may send your standard NDA as well for signing so we may be free to share information both ways. Thank you.
—