Social media activist faces arrest for false iCon story

The Criminal Court on Friday approved an arrest warrant for a social media activist for making false statements about a cryptocurrency transaction allegedly linked to the founder of The iCon Group, the direct sales company accused of operating a pyramid scheme.
Ekkapop Luangprasert, founder of the Sai Mai Tong Rod (Survive) Facebook page, is in the hot seat after he took a witness to the police to discuss a transaction said to have occurred before iCon founder Warathaphon “Boss Paul” Waratyaworrakul was arrested.
He also posted details of the alleged crytocurrency transfer and alleged bribe-taking on his social media page.
He claimed there was evidence showing more than 8 billion baht being transferred to buy Ethereum just one hour before Mr Warathaphon was arrested. He wanted Consumer Protection Division (CPPD) police to investigate whether the transaction was linked to the iCon founder.
Police later dismissed his claims as untrue, but Mr Ekkapop insisted he had good intentions to help those who had fallen victim to the direct sales firm.
Mr Warathaphon, 41, was remanded in custody last month along with 17 other suspects, including celebrities, on charges of public fraud and inputting false information into a computer system. All have denied the allegations.
On Friday afternoon, police from the Technology Crime Suppression Division asked the Criminal Court to approve the arrest warrant for Mr Ekkapop for violating the Computer Crime Act.
Mr Ekkapop, a former adviser to Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, told reporters that he was not aware of the warrant. He was going to report to police investigators in any case, he said.
He said that what he had done was for the public, adding that he did not know any iCon executives personally.
He said he was not worried about the arrest warrant and believed police authorities would provide justice. He has prepared assets for his lawyer to post as bail surety if he is arrested.
Mr Ekkaphop, a rescue volunteer, founded the Facebook page with eight friends in 2019 to help people in need in Sai Mai district of Bangkok. It has since gained fame throughout the city and beyond for helping arrange emergency responses, bridging the gap between the public and state authorities, especially the police. The page has nearly 110,000 followers. (Story continues below)
In a related development, the Criminal Court on Friday approved a request by the Department of Special Investigation to detain the 18 iCon suspects for another 12 days.
Under the law, suspects can be detained for seven 12-day periods, or 84 days in total, before police have to formally press charges.
None of the suspects, who have been in custody since Oct 17, were present in court.
DSI investigators told the court that they had to question 4,500 more prosecution witnesses and another 400 witnesses for the suspects, examine financial transactions and other evidence.
The investigators opposed bail, saying the charges carried severe penalties and there were about 9,000 victims who lost an estimated 2.95 billion baht. The suspects also posed a flight risk, they said.
Investigators have also pressed additional charges of borrowing money in a fraudulent manner, enticing people to join a direct-sales network by promising benefits based on the number of new recruits they bring in, and running a direct sales business without permission.
Also in custody is Kritanong Suwannawong, who was acting on behalf of 89 iCon victims. Police allege that she attempted to extort money from Mr Warathaphon, and was also pocketing 20% of the proceeds she recovered for the fraud victims.