BURI RAM – A group of residents have filed suit against a local pork vendor, accusing her of conning more than 800 people here and overseas out of more than 25 million baht in an online pyramid scam over the past six months.
The suspect was identified only as Thanida, aka “Jae (Big Sister) Khaek”. She has a pork vending stall in a local fresh market in Muang Buri Ram municipality.
On Friday, the complainants lodged a complaint against Ms Thanida at Muang Buri Ram police station, accusing her of major fraud through an online scheme called "Ban Share Sook Jai by Kagty".
They said Ms Thanida contacted them via Facebook and persuaded them to invest, promising high returns.
Victims could choose the period in which they wanted to get their profits, every 4, 8, 12, 16 or 24 days.
A preliminary investigation found Ms Thanida had operated the alleged scheme about 6 months and in that time pocketed more than 25 million baht, invested by more that 800 people in Thailand and abroad.
The suspect told "investors" to wire money to any of her four bank accounts.
One of the complainants, Nok, said she invested her life savings of 355,000 baht in the scheme, lured by the promised high return. She received her dividends for the first period of her investment.
Later, Ms Thanida did not pay her anything.
Ms Nok said she became aware the scheme was a fraud after she and other victims, including teachers and local officials, were unable to contact Ms Thanida.
Siriphong Ritthaisong, deputy investigator at the police station, advised the victims to lay a complaint within threemonths at police stations supervising the areas where they were living when they joined the scheme, otherwise the statute of limitations for a public fraud charge would expire.
Pol Lt Col Siriphong said it was a high-profile case as victims included people living abroad. Therefore, the case would be transferred to the Department of Special Investigation.
As for Ms Thanida, she would soon be summonsed for questioning, he said.
