Four men pretending to be soldiers were arrested in Chiang Mai on Tuesday morning for swindling more than 70 people by offering to help them get instant military jobs and rank in return for large payments.
The four imposters were identified as Charnwit Traisathit, 25, Chatchawal Jamchart, 23, Wasant Detdon, 30, and Natthapat Deeduaychart, 29.
They were apprehended at a hotel in downtown Chiang Mai by police who also found many military uniforms and a 9mm calibre pistol in their room.
Pol Maj Gen Thanitsak Theerasawat, chief of Provincial Police Region 5. and Col Om Sitthisarn, deputy commander of the 33rd Army Circle, jointly interrogated the suspects.
The arrests followed complaints by over 70 people that men claiming to be soldiers attached to an infantry unit had swindled money from them, promising to help them get jobs and rank in military service the easy way.
Complainants said Mr Charnwit told them he was close to an army lieutenant colonel he identified only as Lt Col Anek, based in Nakhon Ratchasima.
He claimed the colonel could help them get employment with the military with the rank of private first class or even sub-lieutenant. The scam victims had been required to pay 70,000-400,000 baht each, depending on what rank they had an eye for.
After making the payment, the victims had been told to attend a training course. The imposters told them they would get their military rank after completing the course. The complainants had undergone training, but the swindlers had kept postponing the awarding of the rank they thought they had paid for.
It was believed the pseudo-soldiers had taken more than 14 million baht in total from their victims, mostly from the Northeast.