Woman caught in lottery cash grab swindle
Police probe ties to Chula Uni co-op fraud
A 32-year-old woman was arrested and charged in connection with a lottery investment scam after being found to be involved in money transfers worth more than 60 million baht, police said.
Potchakorn, or Methawat, Khonman was detained after the Criminal Court approved a warrant for her arrest over her alleged involvement in the scam allegedly run by Sawat Saengbangpla, 79.
Mr Sawat, an ex-chairman of the Chulalongkorn University Savings Cooperative, was accused of orchestrating and operating the bogus lottery investment scheme over the past seven years with estimated damages of 443 million baht.
Dozens of the victims are members of the Chulalongkorn University Savings Cooperative.
The arrest warrant was sought after police widened the probe and found Mr Sawat, who is still on the run, had transferred about 62 million baht to Ms Potchakorn over many years.
The woman was initially charged with receiving or transferring assets associated with crimes with the intention of concealing their origins and complicity in money laundering.
Ms Potchakorn yesterday denied any involvement in the bogus lottery investment scheme and told police the money was transferred to her for online gambling.
She claimed she acted as a middleman for Mr Sawat who transferred between 100,000-200,000 baht each time for baccarat games.
She said the money was estimated at 20 million baht and she was paid 0.8% for each win. The suspect said she was introduced to Mr Sawat by friend of a friend about 10 years ago when she was visiting Chiang Mai. She insisted she was not close to the man and saw him in person only four times.
She said she did not have any of Mr Sawat’s alleged fraud money. Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) chief Thitirat Nongharnpitak said yesterday police were gathering evidence to back arrest warrants against potential suspects who received money or other assets from Mr Sawat.
He said police would call in a group of people who might know about the lottery scheme, but declined to give further details.
Pol Lt Gen Thitirat said Mr Sawat was believed to be in hiding in Thailand. The CIB chief said police were also working closely with the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) in tracing Mr Sawat’s assets for confiscation.
Meanwhile, the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) plans to launch a mobile application designed to detect fraudulent investment schemes, deputy DSI director-general Prawut Wongseenin said.
He said the mobile application will enable the public to report suspected pyramid schemes to authorities. The information will also be forwarded to the Damrongtham complaint centre.
The planned introduction of the mobile application was unveiled as DSI director-general Paisit Wongmuang yesterday chaired a meeting to roll out measures to investigate direct-sale businesses several of which became fraudulent.
Pol Col Paisit said the Office of Consumer Protection should examine marketing plans of direct-sale businesses. He said most of the pyramid investment schemes were “direct-sale businesses gone wrong”.