iCon Group CEO tearfully vows to compensate investors

In tears and on television, embattled iCon Group CEO Waratphol Waratvorakul vowed today to compensate investors for the losses they sustained from his e-commerce business “until the end of my life.”

He said he feels sorry for the investors who suffered losses, while claiming, however, that he had been totally unaware ofthe losses or that a few investors had taken their own lives because of them, adding that none of them had contacted him about their grievances.

Breaking his silence for the first time on the popular “Hone Krasae” TV talk show, hosted by Kanchai Kamnerdploy, Waratphol said that he had initially been afraid to appear on the TV program, but had changed his mind, believing that it would be more useful to speak out “while he is still alive.”

Kanchai asked why he talked about the end of his life, and tried to calm him down. He then turned his attention, briefly,to some relatives of the affected investors who were also invited onto the program.

Waratphol told Kanchai that he would accept all responsibilityand will compensate investors, starting with those who are vulnerable and urgently in need of help.

“I will help down to my last baht and, as long as I am still alive, I will work at whatever job to earn money to compensate (them) for the losses,” said the embattled CEO.

Asked how the idea of iCon Group came about, Waratphol explained that it came from his personal interest in online business and that he had the idea of promoting the online sale of some brand name products.

He disclosed that, initially, there were about 20 executives and each was tasked with jobs that matched their capabilities.

Asked whether his company was simply a pyramid or Ponzi scheme, Waratphol claimed not to know anything about pyramid schemes, prompting Kanchai to interject, saying he would resign if he were the iCon Group’s CEO.