KHON KAEN: Police have arrested a coffee shop owner who allegedly used the business to front a gold auction scam on Facebook that took in more than 100 million baht.
Pachayapa Kongsai, 29, was detained on an arrest warrant dated Dec 8 for using a computer to post false information and/or creating false information. There is also another warrant for Ms Pachayapa issued on Dec 13 for alleged fraud.
She was arrested at a rented property in Lampang province. Police seized five ATM cards, two bank books and two mobile phones as evidence.
Three people initially filed complaints with police that they were tricked into taking part in an auction scheme on a Facebook account named ‘Jang Pachayapa’, in which gold was sold at prices well below the market rate, Provincial Police Region 4 commander Pol Lt Gen Surachai Kuandechakupta said on Friday.
The number of complainants later topped 100, with people filing complaints across the nation.
“The suspect sent gold to the rightful recipients through the mail during the early stages of the operation. However, between August and November many people did not receive the gold they bought and the Facebook account was deactivated, which caused panic,” Pol Lt Gen Surachai said.
Investigators found out that the suspect had used her real name for the account. Her residence was in Nakhon Ratchasima, where she also owned a coffee shop.
She had run away to Lampang province to live with her husband after the alleged fraud, he said.
Ms Pachayapa was willing to take an initial loss buying gold ornaments at market price to give to participants who won gold auctions at below cost.
Once she had attracted a lot of people to the scheme, she began to stop paying them. One complainant in Khon Kaen alleged he had paid Ms Pachayapa 2.3 million baht, and got nothing in return.
Pol Lt Gen Surachai said more than 100 million baht had been transferred into Ms Pachayapa’s various bank accounts. She was being detained in Khon Kaen and would not be allowed bail, he said.