NZ man slain in Bangkok part of scam ring

By PATRICK GOWER

A New Zealand man gunned down in Thailand was involved in "boiler-room" scams similar to those which have fleeced New Zealanders of millions of dollars.

A hitman killed Ian John Travis, aged 41, on Friday night.

Five bullets hit him as he drove his BMW from his downtown Bangkok home.

A blood-soaked Mr Travis struggled from his vehicle, pleading for assistance, and staggered 200m down the road before collapsing.

His 23-year-old Thai wife, Varaporn, took him to hospital.

An autopsy found wounds to his chest, armpit and elbow caused by .357 calibre bullets.

Eketahuna-born Mr Travis was carrying US$15,000 ($35,360) in cash.

The police attache at the New Zealand Embassy in Thailand, Detective Inspector Ross Pinkham, has met his Thai counterparts and requested a speedy investigation.

Thai police believe the killing may have been motivated by a dispute related to illegal foreign exchange business that Mr Travis had conducted in the country for more than 15 years.

They allege the killer was a professional gun-for-hire and the mastermind was a foreigner.

They are looking for the killer and another man who fled the scene - which was outside the home of a former Thai Prime Minister.

Mr Pinkham told the Herald he had been "aware" of Mr Travis before his death because of media reports surrounding his involvement with "boiler-room" fraud.

He had been involved with the now-defunct Foreign Currency International, a company Thai police alleged had been defrauding both Thais and foreigners.

The Thai Government has been cracking down on shady foreign exchange investment companies, known as "boiler-rooms" because of high-pressure sales tactics.

The scams involve bombarding potential investors with unsolicited phone calls and putting pressure on them to buy false stocks or currency on overseas markets.

The New Zealand Securities Commission estimates that companies working mainly from Thailand and the Philippines siphoned at least $5 million out of New Zealand last year.

Thai police are investigating a venture called Global Option in which Mr Travis and American associates were involved.

Mr Travis left Global Option a month ago to set up his own brokerage called Platinum Asia.

Reports say his American associates, James and Michael Muller, were also involved with Foreign Currency International and are now wanted on fraud charges.

They are suspects in the murder inquiry because of a possible feud with Mr Travis that began after he set up the rival illegal trading operation.

A Time magazine article published last week before Mr Travis' death described Foreign Currency International as a "gatecrasher" in the lucrative boiler-room industry.

It described Mr Travis as a strapping tae kwon do expert who claimed to have been a mercenary in Cambodia and Sierra Leone.

The report said he was "brutally paranoid about exposure, threatening employees who want to return to their home countries".

It is understood Mr Travis - who was an orphan in New Zealand - moved to Thailand 20 years ago and initially taught English to Thai executives.

He has a larger-than-life reputation there, having told acquaintances that he was a former member of the SAS and had fought with the Australian Army in the Vietnam War, rising to the rank of colonel.