The Criminal Court yesterday handed down jail terms of 1,446 years each to two executives of the famous Laemgate Seafood Restaurant on Phahonyothin Road in Bangkok, for cheating the public.
The law, however, limits the actual jail term to 20 years each.
In a lawsuit filed by prosecutors, Laemgate Infinite Co and two company executives -- Apichart Bowornbancharak and Prapassorn Bowornbancha were accused of fraud.
They ran online advertisements offering tickets for various seafood buffets at low prices. One spread called the "Pro Rachathalay Buffet" was priced at 880 baht for 10 people -- or only 88 baht per head. The other buffets were priced differently, but all were unusually cheap.
People wanting tickets were required to order and pay for them online.
On March 22, 2019, Laemgate Infinite cancelled the deals, saying it had insufficient food to meet the large number of orders.
About 350 people who had prepaid filed fraud complaints against the company and the two executives, claiming a total of 2,207,720 baht in damages.
Mr Apichart and Ms Prapassorn were subsequently arrested and charged with violating the Consumer Protection Act of 1979, the Computer Crime Act of 2007 and the Criminal Code.
The Criminal Court yesterday found them guilty on 723 counts and sentenced Mr Apichart and Ms Prapassorn to 1,446 years each in jail. Laemgate Infinite was given fines totalling 3,615,000 baht.