Banked betrayal: 84-year-old mother accuses daughter of stealing 2.5 million baht

An 84 year old mother filed a complaint against her oldest daughter, accusing her of stealing 2.5 million baht from her bank account.

The victim, Lek, revealed to both the media and officials at Takhli Police Station that she has five children, with her oldest daughter, 60 year old Natcha, being the alleged thief. Lek made it abundantly clear that she no longer considers Natcha her child after discovering the theft.

Lek explained that she intended to transfer her 1.8 million baht from Krungthai Bank to the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC). Since she is illiterate, she relied on Natcha’s assistance to carry out the transaction.

On December 25 last year, Lek visited Krungthai Bank to withdraw all of her money. She kept 300,000 baht in cash and deposited the remaining 1.5 million baht into her BAAC account. This deposit increased the total savings in the account to 2.5 million baht.

The next day, Natcha took Lek to various temples near her home in Nakhon Sawan province to make merit before bringing her to her granddaughters’ house in the northern province of Lamphun. Lek found herself left there for several months.

Desperate to return home to Nakhon Sawan, Lek pleaded with Natcha and her granddaughters. She even went as far as to bow down before them, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.

Finally, on June 25, Natcha agreed to take Lek back to Nakhon Sawan. However, upon their arrival at the house, Natcha immediately confiscated all of Lek’s documents and her mobile phone.

Suspicious and deeply concerned about her daughter’s actions, Lek sought help from a neighbour. The neighbour assisted her in renewing her identification card and accompanied her to BAAC Bank to inquire about her savings.

To her dismay, all of her money had vanished. The bank staff informed Lek that her funds had been transferred to Natcha’s bank account using a mobile application. Moreover, Lek’s account had been permanently closed since January 3 of that year.

Officers from Takhli Police Station assured Lek that they would summon Natcha for questioning and gather the necessary evidence to ensure justice is served.

In a similar case, another Thai woman faced a potential prison sentence of 20 years for stealing over 250 million baht from her sick mother.250 million baht from her ailing mother. The mother, who was 85 years old and bedridden, fell victim to her daughter’s exploitative tactics as she obtained her fingerprint and withdrew money from her bank account.