Frenchman loses 18 million baht after scammer takes over Bangkok law firm
Foreign victim blames weak safeguard of Thai business department's online system for losses
A Frenchman lost 18 million baht from his Bangkok-based law firm’s bank account after a scammer created false documents to take over the company.
The French victim, Laurent Bruno Benoit, accompanied by his Thai lawyer Phumjai Mukda, met the founder of the non-profit organisation Saimai Survive today, November 4, to seek assistance after police officers allegedly ignored his complaint.
Benoit explained that he co-founded a legal and visa consultancy company with a Thai lawyer several years ago. The business had been running smoothly until the scammer took over the company on October 6.
According to the victim, the scammer allegedly submitted fake documents through the Department of Business Development’s (DBD) online system to modify the company’s registration, adding themselves as directors.
Benoit’s name and those of the other shareholders were removed from the company’s ownership. The scammer then opened a new company bank account and withdrew 8 million baht.
The Frenchman discovered the suspicious change the next day, October 9, and tried to freeze the company account, but the bank informed him that a police report was required first.
By the time he filed the complaint at Bang Rak Police Station, several more withdrawals had been made, ranging from 1 to 4 million baht each, bringing the total loss to 18 million baht.
The Frenchman said he felt devastated by the loss and called for stronger safeguards in the DBD’s online system as well as within banking procedures. He questioned why changes to company ownership and large withdrawals could be completed without proper verification.
The founder of Saimai Survive, Ekkaphop Lueangprasert, stated that the case exposed serious flaws in the DBD’s system, which allowed company information to be easily altered.
Ekkaphop urged relevant authorities to investigate how the fraud occurred and called upon the commander of the Metropolitan Police Bureau’s Investigation Division to speed up investigations, noting that the same group of scammers may have committed similar crimes before.
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