A 33-year-old woman has been arrested at Suvarnabhumi airport for allegedly colluding with her former internet idol girlfriend to dupe people into investing in a bogus gold scheme causing about 200 million baht in damage.
Jiratthanan Pratchamahatthaphat, of Songkhla, was apprehended on Wednesday, after returning from a trip to South Korea, said Crime Suppression Division (CSD) police.
The woman was wanted on an arrest warrant issued by the Criminal Court on Dec 2 last year for colluding in fraud, fraudulent borrowing and inputting false information into a computer system.
According to the CSD, the suspect had colluded with her ex-girlfriend and internet idol Varunrapat Nanchanatnan, 30, to persuade people into investigating in gold bars last year.
Ms Varunrapat, also known as Mind, had 200,000 followers on her social media account. She was arrested on the same charges at a condominium in Bang Sue district of Bangkok on Dec 4 last year.
Before the arrest, the internet idol had posted on her Facebook account that she could acquire gold bars at below-market prices.
Many people believed her claim and transferred their savings to her account to buy gold bars from her. The victims initially received the returns they were promised, prompting them to promote the scheme to their friends and relatives.
Ms Varunrapat later disappeared, prompting the victims to file a police complaint. The investment fraud caused about 200 million baht in damage, according to the CSD.
Net idol Varunrapat 'Mind' Nanchanatnan. (Photo: varunrapat.c Instagram)
Police began the investigation that led to the arrest of Ms Varunrapat, while her accomplice, Ms Jiratthanan, fled to South Korea.
The arresting team later learned that Ms Jiratthanan would return to Thailand on Wednesday.
During questioning, Ms Jiratthanan denied all charges. She was handed over to investigators at the CSD Subdivision 6 for legal action.