Thailand’s Criminal Court on Wednesday sentenced a popular internet identity to 54 years in prison on illegal gambling offences.
Thirty-year-old Siapo Po-arnon was one of 21 defendants charged with violating the Gambling Act and the Money Laundering Act by encouraging people to gamble on websites that he was either connected to or owned.
Bets totalling more than TBH1.76 billion (US$51 million) had been placed via bank accounts owned by the group, The Bangkok Post reports.
Siapo, who will serve a maximum 20 years of his sentence under the Criminal Code, is said to have more than 1.6 million facebook followers.
His charges amounted to 18 counts of collusion in organizing and promoting online gambling and 25 counts of money laundering – the latter of which contributed 50 years of his 54-year sentence.
Ironically, Siapo was previously invited to advise a House panel studying the possibility of legalizing gambling in Thailand in August 2020. Those deliberations failed to deliver a positive result, however another parliamentary committee studying the feasibility of legal casinos submitted its finding in July of this year, proposing the development of up to five casino resorts nationwide.
