News The Thai telco is questioning the validity of a newly reported $1 billion stake in the business The Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is under scrutiny this week after individual investor, identified as Supaporn Pimphong, has reported a trade bringing her ownership of telco True Corporation to 7% – but the telco says it has doubts the trade really took place. The discrepancy came to light when True asked the SEC to verify a filing showing Supaporn had acquired a roughly a 3.2% stake from UBS Group AG on June 15. This acquisition would raise Supaporn’s position to around 7.1%, worth around 32.5 billion Baht ($1 billion), making her one of True’s largest stakeholders. Further confusing matters, Supaporn’s filing claimed the purchase included both ordinary shares and a block of ‘preferred shares’. True Corp, however, says it has never issued preferred shares and have none outstanding in their capital structure. The SEC has subsequently launched a probe into the matter. An individual investment of this scale is always noteworthy, but the lack of information surrounding Supaporn’s identity makes the apparent mistakes in this filing particularly concerning. Initial investigations into her identity by Thai media outlet Khao Hoon uncovered no information regarding her business background, investment track record, or preexisting wealth portfolio. What they did find, however, was that since 2018 Supaporn had filed massive ownership positions in major Thai blue-chip companies, including a 49% stake in GJS Steel and positions over 5% in Bangkok Bank, Kasikornbank, an Asia Aviation. Combined, these stakes would be worth around $1.5 billion, not including Supaporn’s supposed $1 billion stake in True. The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) and the respective companies’ shareholder registries have since confirmed that none of these positions officially exist. So, what exactly is going on here? It seems