Runaway bride says parents not involved in ‘scam’

>> A woman who has been accused of cheating almost a dozen men out of 3 million baht in dowries through sham marriages yesterday insisted her parents were not involved.

Jariyaporn Buayai, 32, however, asked her parents, who were summoned by the Crime Suppression Division (CSD), to turn themselves in to investigators to prove their innocence.

She was speaking yesterday while being taken to Thanyaburi Provincial Court by Pratunam Chulalongkorn police who submitted a detention request and opposed her bail.

On Thursday, Ms Jariyaporn was apprehended at a market in tambon Omnoi of Krathum Baen district, Samut Sakhon.

She was known to have frequented the area with her current husband, 33-year-old Kittisak Tantiwatkul, who is wanted for theft and faces an arrest warrant.

Ms Jariyaporn yesterday said she had no intention to escape as she was arrested after she had earlier contacted CSD investigators that she would turn herself in to authorities.

She also denied there were “victims” of about 30 to 40, as claimed by the media.

The woman said she would defend herself in court, adding the public should not brand her parents as swindlers.

She said the marriages were “sharing between two people”. All her ex-boyfriends “were aware of her love for them”, and that she developed relationships with new men after breaking up with her previous lovers.

One male victim, who declined to be named, said the suspect contacted him through Facebook. They agreed to get married after seeing each other over a period of two to three months.

The woman told the man she was pregnant and presented an ultrasound examination showing she was pregnant.

After he gave two-baht gold and 200,000baht cash to her as dowry, he later found out she was married to another man.

Meanwhile, CSD deputy chief Suwat Saennum said four of 13 victims, who earlier petitioned the agency, were questioned.

All of them also lodged complaints with local officers at Samrong Nua, Samrong Tai, Samut Prakan and Prachuap Khiri Khan police stations.

Investigators will also inquire about nine other victims. They will examine whether they have laid complaints against Ms Jariyaporn.

As for Soiphet Paleewan, a 27-year-old Loei woman whose her name was used to open a bank account by the suspect, Pol Col Suwat said she denied any involvement in the scam.

Police, however, were not convinced. CCTV footage of a bank will be examined to find who opened the account.

If the CSD finds Ms Jariyaporn violated the Anti-Money Laundering Act, her case will be forwarded to the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) which will examine her money trails, Pol Col Suwat said.

Thanakrit Vorathanatchakul, prosecutor at the Office of the Attorney-General, said the woman could also face fraud charges as her act could breach Section 341 of the Criminal Code.

He also warned victims to lodge a police complaint within three months after the incident before the expiry of the statute of limitation in compliance with Section 96 of the Criminal Code, he said.