Woman accused of bogus foreign-aid fund scam
KING-OUA LAOHONG
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) yesterday arrested a woman for allegedly running a bogus foreign aid investment fund in which its victims have lost more than a billion baht. Chulaporn Ritthapai, 59, faces fraud charges.
Most of the fund's victims are in Ratchaburi, Samut Songkhram and Phetchaburi.
Pol Col Piyawat Kingkate, of the DSI's special litigation office, said Ms Chulaporn was accused of claiming to people she could arrange for money from a foreign-based fund set up for ethnic minorities, worth tens of billions of baht, to be made available to them.
According to Pol Col Piyawat, Ms Chulaporn would show bogus bills of exchange seemingly worth 500 million each to her victims, to convince them the money really existed.
Ms Chulaporn told them that those who wanted to receive the money from the fund would have to first pay her 10,000 baht each, police allege.
In return, the victim was told, he or she would be in a position to receive up to two million baht from the fund.
About 1,000 people have been cheated in this way, altogether losing more than one billion baht in the swindle, said Pol Col Piyawat.
Pol Col Piyawat alleged Ms Chulaporn had conspired with her husband, Ekkarin Khamsri, in the scam.
Mr Ekkarin was arrested earlier on the same charges. He died while in detention at the Ratchaburi provincial prison.
In Chiang Mai, eight people were arrested for alleged involvement in another investment scam.
Pol Col Piyawat said they set up a company called Somkid Turakij Co and conspired to defraud people in Chiang Mai in October last year.
He said investigators were finalising the case and would would hand it over to the prosecution next week.
In Nakhon Ratchasima's Pak Chong district, DSI police raided Sabai Panich Partnership and arrested Chayanin Suraphan for allegedly cheating people in a pyramid share scheme involving investments in commodities such as rice and other consumer goods.
The scheme was run by a company called Machoman Co.
About 500 people had been duped and had lost more than 25 million baht. Of these, 80 people had already filed complaints with police.
Bangkok Post May 28, 2008
Only the greedy . . .