A Thai couple has been arrested in connection with a 39 million baht fraud scheme that also involves a prominent lawyer, Sittha Biabangkerd, who allegedly swindled a millionaire out of 71 million baht. The arrests took place on November 7, following accusations from female Thai millionaire Jatuporn “Madam Oi” Udonlert, who claimed that Sittha deceived her into investing in a non-existent business.
According to Jatuporn, she was tricked into investing in a business venture with Sittha, which ultimately failed to materialize. However, Sittha has denied the allegations, insisting that the 71 million baht was a gift from Jatuporn, not an investment.
In addition to the business scam, Jatuporn also uncovered a second fraudulent scheme worth 39 million baht, which led to the arrests of Nuwat Yongyut (34) and his wife, Sarinee Nutchanart (32). Nuwat, who has close ties to Sittha, was allegedly involved in another scam targeting Jatuporn.
The fraud began when Jatuporn sought Sittha’s help to hire Chinese actor and singer Chen Kun for a performance in Thailand. The payment for the performance was to be made via cryptocurrency, a method Jatuporn was unfamiliar with. Sittha, in turn, delegated the task to Nuwat, who claimed he was in contact with Chen Kun and had already made the 39 million baht payment for the performance.
However, when Chen Kun failed to show up for the event, Jatuporn learned that the social media account used to contact the actor was a fake. Nuwat told Jatuporn that he had been scammed by the counterfeit account and lost the money. Feeling partly responsible, Jatuporn transferred an additional 39 million baht to Nuwat to cover the loss.
But Jatuporn soon began to suspect that Nuwat had never contacted Chen Kun and had fabricated the entire story to deceive her. After discovering suspicious evidence and fake booking documents, Jatuporn took legal action against Nuwat and his wife.
The Crime Suppression Division (CSD) launched an investigation into the allegations, uncovering more evidence suggesting that Nuwat had indeed scammed Jatuporn. Investigators discovered that Nuwat had produced counterfeit documents about a supposed loss in Jatuporn’s cryptocurrency account to back up his claims.
Further details about the questioning of the suspects remain under wraps, but Thai media reported that the police denied the couple’s bail request, fearing they may attempt to flee the country or evade the legal process.
The case highlights the growing risks of cryptocurrency fraud and the potential for counterfeit documents and scams in Thailand’s digital economy. Investigators are continuing to look into the couple’s involvement in the larger fraud ring and whether additional accomplices are involved.