US Navy Veteran Wrongly Accused Of Financial Crime In China

US navy veteran Derrick Keller was arrested in August last year just after he and his wife had arrived in Bangkok as tourists.

He was accused of running a Ponzi scheme which caused investors to lose millions of dollars, but has regularly denied the charge. Originally from Texas, Derrick, his wife and their two children moved to China in 2015 after his wife was offered a position as lead dance instructor at the Shenzhen Dance Academy. Whilst his wife continued with her career, Derrick took a few odd jobs, coached a baseball team and worked on his childhood dream of becoming an actor.

After a while he was approached by a recruiter looking for a ‘Western Face’ for a company known as Eagle Gates Group, representing the firm as totally within Chinese law. Derrick saw the offer as a kind of acting opportunity as he was required to appear in several corporate videos for which he was paid $15,000. Once the videos were finished, he lost contact with the company and forgot about the job until he and his wife flew to Bangkok. On arrival, Derrick was arrested at the airport and charged, with Thai media reporting his arrest and stating he’d ‘defrauded Thai investors out of 235 million baht.

Derrick was allowed one call to his father, in the USA, but his family haven’t heard a word from him since. According to his father, the prison in which he’s being held is infamous for violation of human rights, and he’s sleeping in a cell along with 50 Thai prisoners. He’s now been visited by missionaries, who told his family he’s lost 30 pounds in weight during the last 10 months. The family have contacted senators and even Trump as well as local politicians, but haven’t had a reply from anyone. His trial is due to take place in August, and he could be sentenced to 35 years in prison.

According to the Bangkok Post, Thai police have reported a one million baht investment was transferred from a Thai bank account, and the family have been told the court will go easier on him if he admits the crime as it’s not worth denial. According to his father, Derrick is a person of integrity who’d never admit to a crime he hadn’t committed. In order to get him properly represented in court, the family have started a change.org petition. This sad tale isn’t unusual in Asia, with expats and tourists urged to take care and trust no-one, however ‘legit’ they may seem.