Scammer couple sentenced to 12,000 years in prison each in Thailand

Thailand’s Criminal Court sentenced a Thai couple to 12,640 years in prison each yesterday after finding them guilty of operating a Ponzi scheme with damages amounting to billions of baht.

The court ruled that Wantanee Tippaveth and her boyfriend Metee Chinpa committed 2,528 acts of fraud between March 9, 2019, and October 30, 2020.

Wantanee and Metee convinced hundreds of victims to invest in the “Mae Manee” Ponzi scheme, promising a 93% return every month on their initial investment. However, the returns never materialised.

Seven more defendants who were employees of the scheme were cleared of wrongdoing. The court said they were just employees ignorant of the couple’s giant scam, reports ThaiPbs.

The scammers plead guilty prompting the court to take pity and halve their already huge prison sentences.

Committing fraud carries up to five years for each victim in Thailand. However, Thai law stipulates that fraudsters can be imprisoned for a maximum of 20 years in Thailand, no matter the number of victims.

In March, Thailand’s Cyber Police (CCIB) busted a Ponzi scheme run by two companies – Mining Mine X Company and Lak Si Station Limited Partnership – with over 1,000 victims. A gang of seven people lured people to invest in mushroom, bee, and kratom farming, promising unrealistically high returns.

The companies recruited well-known personalities for their promotional campaign, which claimed that if someone invested 264,360 baht in mushroom farming, they would receive a dividend amounting to 108,640 baht in the third month.

If they invested 275,000 baht in kratom farming, they would receive a dividend of 150,000 baht in the eighth month, the investors were promised.

Over 1,000 people invested over 1 billion baht into the Ponzi scheme but started making police complaints after making no profits.

Yesterday, the court denied bail to “DJ Man” and famous singer “Baitoey” who are on trial for their alleged involvement in a Forex 3-D Ponzi scheme.