Buri Ram: Satuk police will summon the president and seven executives of Satuk Agricultural Cooperative's Cremation Aid Association to acknowledge charges of fraud amid accusations they embezzled deposit money worth more than 10 million baht from their members.
The move follows complaints filed by affected members to the police and the Damrongdhama Complaint Centre in Buri Ram.
Pol Lt Col Boonsak Chitsa-ngun, deputy superintendent of Satuk police station, said officers have been working on this case for some time and have questioned nearly 20 witnesses.
"We will summon the eight to acknowledge the fraud charges next week. If they fail to appear three times consecutively, we will ask the court to issue arrest warrants,'' said Pol Lt Col Boonsak.
According to their representatives, 150 members lost more than 10 million baht in total due to the actions of the president and his executives.
They said yesterday they had been lured into depositing 3,500-4,000 baht per year into the Cremation Aid Association on the promise their heirs would receive around 120,000-150,000 baht upon their death.
However, the scheme had frequently refused to pay the agreed compensation to the heirs of deceased members.
In some cases, heirs of deceased members received just 10,000-20,000 baht from the association.
According to the group's representatives, some members asked to withdraw their funds from the scheme after they found out that the association set up a second branch without a licence, but their request was refused.