Mitihoon – The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a criminal complaint with the Economic Crime Suppression Division (ECD) against Bitazza Co., Ltd. (Bitazza), Freedomverse Co., Ltd. (FreedomVerse), Mr. Kavin Phongpandecha, Mr. Tanawat Sutuntivorakoon, and Mr. Wee Kiat Kevin Heng, for allegedly operating a digital asset dealer business without a license (as applicable), in violation of Section 26 and Section 94, in conjunction with Section 26, of the Emergency Decree on Digital Asset Businesses B.E. 2561 (2018) (the Emergency Decree), and are subject to penalties under Section 66 of the Emergency Decree.
The SEC found that Bitazza, a licensed digital asset business operator in the category of digital asset broker, provided the service called Crypto Dust to the public by exchanging digital assets with Bitazza itself in the normal course of business and charging fees. In addition, Bitazza and FreedomVerse jointly provided the product called Freedom Card, which involved purchasing digital assets in exchange for cash and crediting such cash to the Freedom Card, with fees charged. Furthermore, they solicited the public to use their services through Bitazza’s Facebook account, demonstrating an intention to provide services to customers in public. In both cases, there was no information indicating that the purchase or sale orders were transmitted to any other digital asset exchange. Furthermore, the aforementioned services constituted transactions conducted outside the digital asset exchange.
Such services shall be deemed to be the operation of a digital asset dealer business under Section 3 of the Emergency Decree. However, Bitazza and FreedomVerse carried out such activities without obtaining the required licenses, thereby violating Section 26, which shall be liable under Section 66 of the Emergency Decree, in conjunction with Section 83 of the Criminal Code, as applicable.
In this connection, Mr. Kavin, former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bitazza, and Mr. Tanawat, CEO of Bitazza are deemed the persons responsible for the operations of Bitazza during the relevant period. Moreover, Mr. Kavin and Mr. Wee Kiat Kevin Heng as authorized directors of FreedomVerse and signatories to the agreement between Bitazza and FreedomVerse are deemed the persons responsible for the operations of FreedomVerse during the relevant period. Accordingly, all 3 persons shall also be liable to the penalties as provided for the offence of Bitazza and FreedomVerse under Section 94 of the Emergency Decree, as applicable.
The SEC has therefore filed a criminal complaint with the ECD against Bitazza, FreedomVerse, Mr. Kavin, Mr. Tanawat, and Mr. Wee Kiat Kevin Heng for consideration of further legal action.
Following the criminal complaint filed by the SEC, the criminal enforcement process will proceed with an investigation by the inquiry official, prosecution by the public prosecutor, and adjudication by the court of justice, respectively. In this regard, the SEC will monitor the progress of the legal proceedings and cooperate fully with relevant agencies to support legal enforcement under the Emergency Decree after the criminal complaint has been filed.
The SEC urges the public and investors to exercise caution when using services from unlicensed digital asset businesses, as they will not be protected under the law and may be exposed to risks of fraud and scams as well as money laundering activities. The public and investors can verify the list of licensed business operators on the SEC’s website at www.sec.or.th and via the SEC Check First application. Additionally, the list of individuals or entities not regulated by the SEC is available at the Investor Alert Section on the SEC’s website: at https://market.sec.or.th/public/idisc/th/InvestorAlert.
To report any leads or information regarding suspicious activities, please contact the SEC Complaint Center via Hotline 1207, the SEC official Facebook page, or the SEC Live Chat on the SEC website for further in-depth investigation.
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