Bangkok: Ekniti clarified that the leaked photo of him and Ben Smith is from five years ago, when he was a teacher. He had met him and exchanged business cards, but insisted he did not associate with him and believes the photo was released for political gain.
According to Thai News Agency, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas stated that the published photo of him exchanging business cards with Mr. Ben Smith was taken when he was a lecturer at the Royal Thai Police Executive Course approximately five years before the COVID-19 outbreak. At the event, he met many people, and Mr. Ben Smith approached him to exchange business cards. After that, they no longer socialized.
After the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) considered technology crime cases involving scammer and hybrid scam gangs, a transnational criminal organization, it resolved to seize and freeze 289 assets worth a total of 10.165 billion baht, divided into four major cases. Among them, the networks of Mr. Ben Smith and Ms. Tangthai had assets worth over 9 billion seized due to their involvement with the call center gang, leading to images being shared on social media for political gain.