Crime
Police Arrest Frenchman for Alleged Bt2 Million Fraud
A Frenchman was arrested by police yesterday for allegedly defrauding a Thai woman out of approximately 2 million baht after she invested in a business with him.
Mr. Clemen, 41, was identified as the suspect by law enforcement. Authorities reportedly detained him outside a hotel in Bangkok’s Watthana district.
According to Pol Lt Gen Phakphumphiphat Satchaphan, bureau chief, immigration officers tracked down the suspect after receiving information about where he was staying.
A warrant for the suspect’s arrest was issued on May 2 after a woman filed legal action against him, according to Pol Lt Gen Phakphumphiphat.
The woman told police she met the 41-year-old Frenchman at an entertainment venue in Bangkok.
Later, they travelled to France, where she agreed to invest her money with him in a business reselling brand-name goods.
She stated that she invested 2 million baht in the business before realizing it was a scam. She said no brand-name product was ever delivered to her in Thailand as promised.
The woman later discovered the suspect had similarly duped other victims.
In other police news, a Kuwaiti national was recently arrested in Surat Thani for overstaying his visa, according to police. Mr. Rashed Hea Juma, 56, was arrested for visa overstay, overstaying his visa for 16 days, according to Immigration police.
Cyber Police Arrest Investment Scammers
On Sunday, police raided a condo in Samut Prakan and arrested four suspected of running an investment scheme.
A 31-year-old suspect, only identified as Mr. Supornpong, and three women, including his girlfriend, Ms. Khaninut, were detained.
According to a Cyber police source, Mr. Supornpong was wanted on a warrant issued by Suphan Buri Court for identity fraud collusion.
Three computers, 9 mobile phones, 5 bank passbooks, and 38 SIM cards were seized by police.
The four cloned Facebook accounts and duped victims into investing in a non-existent company called “eshiping.shop.”
The victims were invited to a Line group to chat with Golf, a self-proclaimed investment expert who offered investment packages.
After each victim joined the Line chat, the fake group members would show their earnings with doctored financial statements to deceive the victim into believing they were earning a lot after following Golf’s investment advice.
When victims transferred funds, they were later shown false earnings but could not withdraw any funds.
When they tried, the scammers would tell them that the withdrawal process was invalid or that they needed to invest more money to withdraw money.
Mr. Supornpong allegedly told police that he used to work for UFABET168.net, a gambling website owned by a Cambodian gang, where he met his girlfriend, Ms. Khaninut.
Ms. Khaninut stated that the site was making approximately 100 million baht per month, so she and Mr. Supornpong decided to start their own business in September instead of taking a 3% commission from the Chinese gang.
She paid a programmer in Cambodia 60,000 baht to write a program to make the scam appear legitimate, and she ran the scam with two other associates. Mr. Supornpong and Ms. Khaninut each received 30% of the profits, while the two partners received 20% each.
