65% of all donations to foundation diverted, say police

Police investigators say that 527 million baht of the 815 million baht donated to the Goodness Foundation, chaired by actress Panadda “Boom” Wongphudee, was used for personal benefit, including credit card payments, luxury goods and mutual fund investments.

Pol Maj Gen Thatphum Jaruprat, commander of the Economic Crime Suppression Division (ECD), announced the initial details of the investigation on Saturday as the former Miss Thailand and her husband made their first court appearance in connection with the case.

Ms Panadda, 50, and her husband, Atip “Got” Anantawan, 53, surrendered to authorities on Friday after arrest warrants were issued for them on charges including fraud and money laundering.

The investigation began after a group of donors and members of the public filed complaints with ECD investigators last week, suspecting that their contributions had not been used for their stated charitable purposes.

“Investigators found that the suspect had used her public profile, reputation and involvement in social work to solicit donations through Facebook pages,” Pol Maj Gen Thatphum said.

The timeline

Ms Panadda began soliciting donations online in November 2015 through an account opened in her personal name, claiming the money would be used for various charitable activities.

In 2017, she established the Goodness Foundation Facebook page, known locally as “Ongkorn Thamdee”, to solicit donations while continuing to use the original personal bank account.

As donations increased, she registered the foundation in Bang Khen district of Bangkok in March 2022.

In July that year, the foundation opened a bank account under its registered name and began accepting donations through both accounts, without closing the original personal account.

In 2025, plans emerged to relocate the foundation from Bang Khen in Bangkok to Pathum Thani. A third personal account, described as a supplementary account, was subsequently opened to collect donations for the construction of a new foundation, investigators said.

Investigators found that Ms Panadda had authority over all three accounts, with relevant documents showing that she retained control over payment authorisations, Pol Maj Gen Thatphum said. (Story continues below)

Investigators from the Economic Crime Suppression Division (ECD) discuss the money trail of the Goodness Foundation during a briefing on Saturday at the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) headquarters in Bangkok. (Photo supplied/Wassayos Ngamkham)

Over B500m for personal use

From 2015 to the present, the three accounts received more than 3.2 million transactions from over one million donor accounts, amounting to approximately 815 million baht.

Of this amount, about 527 million baht was allegedly used for personal benefit, Pol Maj Gen Thatphum said.

He added that some donations had been used for foundation activities, but the proportion was less than 70%.

Investigators identified 12 categories of suspicious transactions involving the money, including 99 million baht transferred to Mr Atip, 18 million baht paid to contractors building a pool villa in Phuket and 36 million baht transferred to foundation committee members.

Other transactions included 4.6 million baht transferred to Ms Panadda’s father, 24 million baht invested in mutual funds, 10 million baht spent on life insurance and 19 million baht used for credit card payments.

Money withdrawn from mutual funds was also used to purchase jewellery and luxury handbags worth 2.7 million baht.

Some funds were also used to pay housing and common-area maintenance expenses.

Authorities found that the foundation had no records of annual committee meetings or annual reports submitted to the registrar, as required by law.

These findings were among the factors considered in assessing the suspects’ conduct and alleged fraudulent intent, Pol Maj Gen Thatphum said.

The foundation had also paid taxes only during its first two years of operation.

As a non-profit legal entity, the foundation was required to report its financial status to the registrar. However, it was not exempt from tax and was required to declare its donation income for tax purposes, he said.