One of the suspects in a Ponzi scheme operated by Ufun Store filed a complaint with Crime Suppression Division police on Wednesday accusing a lawyer of defrauding him of about 2.5 million baht.
Jirawat Saenkla, 35, said he had paid the money to the lawyer (name withheld) who claimed he had a connection with officials in the justice process, including prosecutors, and could help secure his release on bail on being arrested.
He said he handed over the money at a law office in Min Buri. But when he was arrested, people in that office did nothing to help him out and refused to return the money.
Mr Jirawat said he knew other suspects in the Ufun case had been similarly cheated and the amount of money they paid could total around 40-50 million baht.
Mr Jirawat was accompanied by Pol Lt Gen Suwira Songmetta, an assistant police chief, and Pol Col Angkur Klaiklueng, deputy commander of the Consumer Protection Police Division, when he filed the complaint at the CSD.
Pol Col Angkur said warrants had been issued for the arrest of 164 suspects in the case, four of them juristic entities, over the Ponzi scheme operated by Ufun Store, which was accused of conning about 120,000 people out of more than 20 billion baht. Of the 160 individuals, 94 had been arrested and 66 were still at large.
He confirmed that a number of suspects said they had been similarly cheated by lawyers who claimed to have connections with police, prosecutors and court officials.