Thai police will begin proceedings by mid September against three Irishmen accused of running a share scam that defrauded Australian and New Zealand investors of millions of pounds.
Officers from the Economic Crime Investigation Division are expected to visit Australia and interview the principals of firms in the US represented by the Brinton Group, an unlicensed Bangkok broking house raided by authorities last month.
The two Irishmen in hiding since the July 26th raid shut down the operation - Mr Ronan Murray from Dublin and Mr John Kealy, from Tipperary - handed themselves over to authorities on Saturday.
They were charged with work permit violations, running an unlicensed trading house and fraud, charges also brought against five other directors of the Brinton Group now in custody.
Mr Kealy and Mr Murray were released the same day on bail of two million Baht (£40,000 ) each by the Commissioner of Police.
The authorities retained their passports, seized with other documents from their office in the heart of Bangkok's financial district.
Legal counsel acting for the accused are hoping to secure the release of Mr Paul Hickey, also of Dublin, an Australian and three Britons through the Police Commissioner's discretion.
Yesterday, Mr Murray repeated claims made earlier by Mr Kealy and Mr Hickey that theirs was an above board operation selling shares in legitimate companies and they intend to clear their names in court.
"There was no fraud involved, all the money we received was sent to the companies and the only reason we were not licensed is because we were told it was not necessary if we weren't dealing to Thai clients," argued the 28-year-old Dubliner who says he was not a director but employed as a consultant.
"The real criminals have done a runner and 'donated' their money to the Thai economy at Don Muang airport," Mr Murray claimed.
Thai newspapers have reported that four directors of another unlicensed "boiler room" were relieved of the equivalent of £140,000 by immigration authorities before boarding a flight to Europe on July 28th.
Before Brinton Group and Benson Dupont International were shut down, an estimated 40 to 50 trading houses were operating in Bangkok selling shares and investments to overseas clients via high-pressure telephone sales.
Traders working the phones had little or no experience in broking, many of them travellers who had answered classified ads seeking native English speakers in local papers.
The offices of a third unlicensed trading operation were raided on August 7th but police found the premises had been vacated.
