A woman has been arrested in Bang Kapi district after being accused of luring an Olympic gold medalist and his friends into investing in a lottery ticket block sale but then failed to deliver them.
The damage was estimated at over 11 million baht. Paramee Phitak, 65, was apprehended on Happy Land Sai 2 Road in Bang Kapi on Wednesday, Pol Col Bunlue Phadungthin, chief of the Crime Suppression Division sub-division 2, said yesterday.
The arrest was made after Lt Cdr Somluck Kamsing and his friends had invested in a lottery ticket quota with Ms Paramee, who claimed to be a lottery agent. The woman convinced them she could supply lottery tickets at prices lower than other agents, said Pol Col Bunlue.
The 1996 Olympic boxing gold medalist and his friends invested 10 million baht for the Feb 1 draw and the woman delivered the tickets.
Lt Cdr Somluck and his friends later paid 50 million baht to buy more tickets, but the woman failed to supply them.
When asked to return the money, the woman kept prevaricating, claiming she was contacting an investor who would return the money.
The woman later returned some of the money but still owed them 11.75 million baht. After that, she could not be found.
Lt Cdr Somluck and his friends filed a complaint with police in Nonthaburi on June 3.
During questioning, Ms Paramee denied cheating the complainants. She claimed she had tried to find money to return to them.