Thai AMLO Awards Freeland for Help on Major Wildlife Trafficking Case

Secretary General of Thailand’s Anti-Money Laundering Organization (AMLO), Police Major General Piyapun Pingmuang, is joined by his team to thank Freeland Thailand’s CEO, General Petcharat Sangchai and Freeland Founder, Steve Galster for Freeland’s assistance on a major case against wildlife traffickers. AMLO’s seizure of over $11 million in assets from a syndicate Freeland calls “Hydra” is considered a new benchmark for wildlife conservation.

​Asset Seizure Sets New Bar for Targeting Wildlife Criminals

(Bangkok) On September 30, 2021, Police Major General Piyapun Pingmuang, Secretary
General of Thailand’s Anti-Money Laundering Organization (AMLO), awarded Freeland with an
official plaque of recognition and appreciation for its critical support of a multi-year, multi-country 
case against an international wildlife trafficking syndicate, which resulted in over 330 million
baht in assets being frozen and seized. The case targeted multiple suspects based in Thailand
who were suspected of trafficking endangered species across the country’s borders, and
laundering money from their related sales and purchases money. One of the suspects was the
notorious Boonchai Bach, based in Nakorn Panom, Thailand whose multiple properties and
bank accounts were seized​

Freeland’s support of AMLO on a string of related cases started in 2011, with a recent
concentrated joint effort between 2019-2021 that resulted in the major seizure in March 2021.
“AMLO’s case against Hydra is the most impressive and important piece of anti-money
laundering investigation work into wildlife trafficking that we are aware of in Asia,” said Steven
Galster, founder of Freeland. “We believe the Hydra case has set a new bar for AML
performance in the arena of wildlife conservation, and we are hopeful it will lead to more asset
targeting and seizures.”
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Freeland congratulated General Pingmuang for his permanent appointment as Secretary
General of AMLO, noting that “his leadership made a huge positive difference in this case.”
Freeland also congratulated Police Lieutenant Colonel Teeraphong Dulyavichan for leading the
team of investigators. “Dulyavichan and his team were five-star!” added Galster.