Vietnamese and Thai police have arrested the mastermind of a Ponzi scheme which cheated victims out of three billion baht via Coffee Cash Back Co, a firm the suspect's gang claimed to be working with state agencies to help low-income earners.
The gang members cited authorities only to "gain trust and fool several thousand people", Immigration Bureau chief Surachate Hakparn, also in charge of fraud cases, said on Sunday.
The suspect, identified as Kittikorn Wanwasuthon, 61, was arrested by Vietnamese police on Friday, following a request by Thai officers.
The other suspect, Sirawanphon Chaiwacharakhup, 53, who is believed to be hiding in Vietnam, managed to escape.
Eight gang members involved with the scheme were earlier apprehended in a neighbouring country.
According to investigators, the gang shut down the company just two months after opening it late last year and fled to Vietnam.
They had urged people to "invest" in the company by paying at least 1,000 baht each. The company promised to pay them 105% interest a month.
To make the firm appear more credible, the suspects invited reporters to cover its opening, Pol Lt Gen Surachate said.
The Ponzi plan turned out to be successful as people applied to invest in up to 86,000 accounts, worth around three billion baht, he said.
"I first didn't believe the company," said Maliwan Pinthong, who is one of the victims, but she later decided to invest one million baht after a visit to its office.
The 52-year-old was shown a document the firm claimed to be evidence of it having 15 million baht in registered capital. She also believed the company joined hands with state agencies to run the business to help the poor.
Another victim, Mayuree Wongkhamchan, 33 said she lost 400,000 baht to the company. She had believed it could help her settle her debts.
