Thread: Commerce Ministry investigates claim about export of used medical gloves

BANGKOK (NNT) - The Ministry of Commerce is investigating the illegal export of used medical gloves to the United States, as reported by a foreign media outlet. The ministry is working with health authorities to prosecute those involved.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce Jurin Laksanawisit said his ministry is now looking into the report of 80 million pieces of used medical gloves exported to the United States. This report was released by CNN.


The minister said related agencies are now making a thorough investigation into this claim, with initial information suggesting that the act was done by a group of swindlers seeking to reap profits from the pandemic-driven demand increase.


Mr. Jurin stressed that medical equipment such as rubber gloves must not be reused and that the ministry is now working together with agencies under the Ministry of Public Health, including the Food and Drugs Administration, to further pursue this investigation.

National News Bureau Of Thailand

YUCK!


CNN Investigation: Tens of millions of filthy, used medical gloves imported into the US

(CNN)Trash bags stuffed full of used medical gloves, some visibly soiled, some even blood-stained, litter the floor of a warehouse on the outskirts of Bangkok.


Nearby is a plastic bowl, filled with blue dye and a few gloves. Thai officials say migrant laborers had been trying to make the gloves look new again, when Thai health authorities raided the facility in December.


There are many more warehouses just like it still in operation today in Thailand -- trying to cash in on the demand for medical-grade nitrile gloves, which exploded with the coronavirus pandemic. And they're boxing up millions of these sub-standard gloves for export to the United States, and countries around the world amid a global shortage that will take years to ease.


A months-long CNN investigation has found that tens of millions of counterfeit and second-hand nitrile gloves have reached the United States, according to import records and distributors who bought the gloves -- and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Criminal investigations are underway by the authorities in the US and Thailand.

MORE CNN Investigation: Tens of Millions of Filthy, Used Medical Gloves Imported Into the US - CNN

Initial information suggesting that the act was done by a group of swindlers seeking to reap profits from the pandemic-driven demand increase

Swindlers? The miscreants! The vagabonds!

One of those companies is SkyMed, a brand run by a former Thai military officer.

Oh.

Nitrile gloves shipped to the US by Thai company PADDY THE ROOM Trading Company. These examples, seen by CNN, show clear signs of previous use -- hand-writing in pen and other soiling.

Late last year Tarek Kirschen, a Miami-based businessman, ordered about $2 million of gloves from a Thai-based company called Paddy the Room, which he then sold to a US distributor.
"We start getting phone calls from clients completely upset, and you know, yelling and screaming at us saying, 'Hey, you screwed us,'" he recalls.
Kirschen got to see the product for himself when a second container arrived in Miami.
"These were reused gloves. They were washed, recycled," he told CNN. "Some of them were dirty. Some of them had bloodstains. Some of them had markers on them with dates from two years ago... I couldn't believe my eyes."


CNN Investigation: Tens of Millions of Filthy, Used Medical Gloves Imported Into the US - CNN

"paddy the room"

must be thai pikeys.

Paddy The Room Trading Co., Ltd., 1112 25 SUKHUMVIT RD PRAKANONG BANGKOK 10110 TH | Supplier Report — Panjiva



Female pharmacist Supatra Boonserm, Deputy Secretary-General of the FDA. revealed that the gloves were used Collected from China or Indonesia before being sent to Thailand to be washed, dried and repackaged

Get to know Paddy the Room
“Prachachat Business” examined the information of Paddy The Room Trading Company Limited, which appeared in the CNN report, found that this company was registered on August 25, 2017 with a registered capital of 2 million baht. Manufacture of apparel for use in professional and student industries Located at 139 The Street Building, 3rd Floor, Room 301-304, Ratchadaphisek Road, Din Daeng Subdistrict, Din Daeng District, Bangkok 10400

The first shareholder is Mr. Luk Fei Yang Yang, a Chinese national, holding 49% shares with a total share value of 9.8 hundred thousand baht. and Mr. Renu Ruensuk

this company Submit the latest financial statements on December 31, 2018, stating that there is a total income of 19,000 baht, including operating expenses of 10,000 baht, a loss from operations of 10,000 baht, but a net profit of 9,000 baht.

anyone knows where all the used needles go.?

American That Sold Story To CNN Is Suspect In Abduction Case

The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) says an American national who allegedly sold a story to CNN about used medical gloves exported from Thailand is also a suspect in a case involving the reported abduction of a Taiwanese businessman.


The national police chief, Pol Gen Suwat Jangyodsuk, instructed the CIB to investigate and find more evidence about the crimes in both cases that have affected the country’s international relations and trade.

After an investigation, CIB commissioner Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop Bhuridej said yesterday the kidnapped Taiwanese businessman owns a glove firm featured in the CNN report.


The alleged abduction of the Taiwanese businessman occurred on 28th March, the police said.


The unnamed American was earlier arrested for his suspected involvement in the abduction case at the airport while he was trying to escape Thailand in June.


Pol Lt Gen Bhuridej said the police have been handling the investigations as two separate cases.


Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit instructed the Royal Thai Police during a government-appointed panel meeting yesterday to expedite investigations into the CNN report and have it finished within a month.


The meeting also instructed the Industrial, Interior and Commerce ministries as well as related agencies to assist Thailand’s legitimate rubber glove market with its exports.




American That Sold Story To CNN Is Suspect In Abduction Case | Chiang Mai News - Daily News Stories From Chiang Mai & Thailand

This gets curiouser and curiouser. Apparently, an ongoing story from this report.

Trio nabbed over Bangkok kidnapping

expedite investigations into the CNN report

Yeah, don't investigate the crime, investigate the report.

What about "tarnishing Thailand's image" charges? This story would lead people to believe there're a lot of scams win Thailand whereas in reality...oh wait...

TBH that would have been clever to sell medical waste abroad, after getting money from other countries to dispose of it... should have cleaned them thoroughly and discard the ones that wouldn't pass a quick inspection, and also maybe add some smoke screen companies to enhance their anonymity.

Thai employee of company implicated in used medical glove scandal jailed for 4 years

November 2, 2021

Thailand’s Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court has sentenced a Thai employee of the “Paddy the Room” trading company to four years in prison. The firm allegedly exported about ten million pairs of used rubber medical gloves to the United States.

According to Deputy Spokesman for the Office of the Attorney-General Prayut Petchkun, the court found Pipatpon Homjanya and his employer guilty of producing and trading in substandard medical gloves and medical equipment and using the trademark of other companies without permission.

He said that public prosecutors had decided not to indict the company’s managing director, Taiwanese businessman Luk-fei Yang Yang, who faced similar charges because he has already fled Thailand.

Pipatpon pleaded guilty during the trial and the court sentenced him to eight years in prison but commuted the term to four years due to his confession.

“Paddy the Room” entered into a deal with American company “AirQueen”, to export US$2.7 million worth of medical gloves from Thailand to the US during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic there. The gloves, however, were found to be pre-used and repackaged, according to an investigative report by CNN.

The scam eventually led to the kidnap for ransom of Wei Yu Chung, a Taiwanese executive of the firm, at a restaurant in the Sukhumvit area of Bangkok in March this year, allegedly by a group of Americans, including Louis Ziskin, reportedly the CEO of “AirQueen”.

Chung was later freed and several Thais and Americans, including Ziskin, were arrested by Crime Suppression Division officers. Ziskin was released upon lack of sufficient evidence, according to his lawyer, and left Thailand in August.

In an exclusive interview with Thai PBS World last week from his home in Los Angeles, Ziskin insisted on his innocence in the abduction case, saying Wei asked him to meet up for dinner the day of the alleged abduction and the Taiwanese was in good spirits without any bruises. He claimed his face was interspersed into the video of the kidnap.

Ziskin also pointed to “a retired General living in Lopburi” as the mastermind behind the scam he dubbed “medical terrorism”.

Thai employee of company implicated in used medical glove scandal jailed for 4 years | Thai PBS World : The latest Thai news in English, News Headlines, World News and News Broadcasts in both Thai and English. We bring Thailand to the world

Chung was later freed and several Thais and Americans, including Ziskin, were arrested by Crime Suppression Division officers. Ziskin was released upon lack of sufficient evidence, according to his lawyer, and left Thailand in August. Ziskin pointed to “a retired General living in Lopburi” as the mastermind behind the scam he dubbed “medical terrorism”.

they will be laughing all the way to their banks whilst the unfortunate scapegoat eats fish head soup and flicks cockroaches of his feet for the next 4 years.

There's a hell of a lot about this story that is almost unbelievable. Selling used medical gloves, there has to be an easier way to make a buck.

Originally Posted by taxexile

Thai employee of company implicated in used medical glove scandal jailed for 4 years

"Justice" in this case moved quick!!
in the meantime they are still investigating Joe Ferrari .

Originally Posted by russellsimpson

There's a hell of a lot about this story that is almost unbelievable. Selling used medical gloves, there has to be an easier way to make a buck.

why didnt they cut the fingers off,they then would have 5 condoms off different sizes.

^ More info.

Man arrested over B184mn glove export scam


BANGKOK: A 50-year-old man has been arrested in Chatuchak district, Bangkok, for suspected involvement in a rubber glove export fraud, which cost the buyer about B184 million.

The man, identified by police as Khamphi Khamperayannon, was arrested by a joint team consisting of officers from the Consumer Protection Police Division and Crime Suppression Division’s Subdivision 1, following an order issued by Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) commissioner Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop Bhuridej, reports the Bangkok Post.


The suspect was wanted over his ties to a rubber glove factory in Sa Kaeo’s Watthana Nakhon district, which turned out to be non-existent, police said.

The man, identified by police as Khamphi Khamperayannon, was arrested by a joint team consisting of officers from the Consumer Protection Police Division and Crime Suppression Division’s Subdivision 1, following an order issued by Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) commissioner Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop Bhuridej, reports the Bangkok Post.


The suspect was wanted over his ties to a rubber glove factory in Sa Kaeo’s Watthana Nakhon district, which turned out to be non-existent, police said.

Police said a firm based in the United States entered into an agreement with Khamphi’s company to purchase two million boxes of powder-free nitrile gloves.


The firm found Khamphi’s company through a Chinese broker, who believed the company to be legitimate after reviewing its website.


The firm entered into a deal to buy 2 million boxes of rubber gloves for US$15.5mn, which was to be paid in 12 monthly instalments, by agreeing to put down a deposit of US$6.2 million (B184mn).


When the firm demanded to inspect the factory, Khamphi refused, citing the pandemic, police said.


On June 14, the firm sent its representative to inspect an address in Sa Kaeo where Khamphi said his factory was, but there was no factory there, police said.


Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce Jurin Laksanawisit said visible progress has been made by authorities probing the export of used medical gloves to the United States, with the public prosecutor having delivered a prosecution order on Paddy The Room Trading Co Ltd and the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court handing down four-year sentences to the culprit, reports state news agency NNT.


Progress was being made on two fronts, Mr Jurin said. On the part of Paddy The Room Trading Co Ltd, a prosecution order has already been given and the intellectual property court has handed down a 4-year sentence to the offender, without a possibility of a suspended sentence.


An arrest warrant has also been issued for the Hong Kong person who owned the company, Mr jurni added.


On the part of Sufficiency Economy City Co Ltd, the owner of the SkyMed trademark of medical gloves, Mr Jurin said arrest warrants have now been issued and the accused were being summoned


He added that police representatives have promised to accelerate proceedings and yield progress in the case within 30 days.


Mr Jurin added that the Thai Rubber Gloves Exporters Association has confirmed that the scandal was not affecting glove exports and no order cancellations have been made by clients.

Regarding the Paddy the Room Trading case, Prayuth Petchkhun, deputy spokesman of the Attorney-General (OAG) said on Tuesday that Phiphatphon Homchanya, an employee of Paddy the Room Trading, was at first given eight years in a ruling handed down by the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court last Wednesday.


The sentence was commuted to four years because the accused confessed, Mr Prayuth said, the Bangkok Post. noted in a separate report.





The other two parties named as suspects were Paddy the Room Trading and Luk Fei Yang Yang, a Chinese executive of the company, said Mr Prayuth.


The three faced multiple charges for colluding to produce medical supplies without permission and using trademarks belonging to other companies with intent to deceive customers, he said. Luk Fei Yang Yang, meanwhile, has since gone on the run. Police are still trying to track him down, said Mr Prayuth.


Luk Fei Yang Yang was first detained when the police raided the company’s factory in Pathum Thani’s Lam Luk Ka district on Dec 24, said a source.


At that time, machines worth about 300 million baht were seized for inspection, said the source.


The machines were believed to have been used to produce counterfeit medical supplies including medical gloves, said the source, adding that a large number of medical glove packages with the trademark SkyMed on them were also found at the scene.


Sufficiency Economy City, which owns the trademark, subsequently lodged a complaint with the police insisting it had nothing to do with Paddy the Room Trading or the company’s unlawful use of the SkyMed trademark, said the source.


A months-long CNN investigation found that tens of millions of counterfeit and second-hand nitrile gloves have reached the United States, according to import records and distributors who bought the gloves ‒ and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.


Some of the gloves had been washed, others still had marks and even bloodstains still on them. Some had dates from two years ago written on them with markers.


In February and March this year one US company warned two federal agencies ‒ Customs and Border Protection and the Food and Drug Administration ‒ that it had received shipments filled with substandard and visibly soiled gloves from one company in Thailand, according to the in-depth report by CNN.


The Thai company managed to ship millions more gloves in the following months, the report said.

Man arrested over B184mn glove export scam

On June 14, the firm sent its representative to inspect an address in Sa Kaeo where Khamphi said his factory was, but there was no factory there, police said.

At this point, they became suspicious.