KHON KAEN: A 52-year-old gold dealer surrendered to police on Monday to face charges of an alleged 845-million-baht fraud brought by 165 investors she and her husband attracted to their Chon Buri business.
Ratana Puwaratanakul, a native of Sattahip district in Chon Buri, gave herself up at the Provincial Police Region 4 office.
She is accused of massive public fraud in an arrest warrant issued by the Pattaya Court on Dec 27.
Pol Maj Gen Manote Supappul, chief investigator of Provincial Police Region 4, said Ms Ratana had learned about the warrant during a visit to her family in Khon Kaen, so she surrendered. Her husband, Pornpote Puwaratanakul, had previously turned himself in. She denied all charges.
The chief investigator said 165 people filed complaints at Pattaya police station against the woman and her husband, who were the executive officers of Ausiris Sattahip Gold and Futures Co. The complainants alleged their losses amounted to 845 million baht.
"They had invited people in general to buy bullion from the company. It had four branches. It was a large gold trading company in the East and had operated for about 10 years," Pol Maj Gen Manote said.
"Irregularities emerged just before the New Year. Investors wanted their physical gold, but the company was unable to deliver. It shut down on Dec 23," he said.
Ms Ratana said she had denied all charges and would defend herself in court.
She said her company could not deliver the gold to all its customers at the same time because it had accumulated so many customers over the past decade of its operations.
The company needed time to check the records of all customers before distributing the gold to them, she said.