Ducati deception: Thai man’s home seized after lawyer advice

A Thai man accused a famous lawyer of deceiving him by hiding his Ducati motorcycle to avoid its repossession by a finance company for her gain. This alleged deception ultimately resulted in the finance company seizing his home.

The 43 year old Thai man, Wisit Pinbankuay, visited the Central Investigation Bureau Complaint Centre yesterday, October 28, to file a complaint against the renowned lawyer, Dhammarat Sarapanya, accusing him of stealing his Ducati motorcycle.

Dhammarat is known for his work with a young religious cult leader known as Nice Mind Connection. He also presented himself as a protector of the Buddhist religion, gaining a significant number of followers on his Facebook page, Lawyer Dhammarat: the Lawyer of Legality.

In a press conference following his complaint, Wisit revealed that he believed Dhammarat was a skilful lawyer and therefore hired him to handle a legal dispute over his motorcycle with a finance company.

Dhammarat charged him 25,000 baht for his services but when Wisit requested to pay in instalments, he demanded 30,000 baht instead. Wisit agreed to the revised fee and granted Dhammarat full authority to handle his case.

Subsequently, the court ordered Wisit to return the motorcycle to the finance company and to pay the remaining balance as the vehicle was still under instalment payments. Wisit agreed to comply but Dhammarat intervened.

Dhammarat advised Wisit not to return the motorcycle himself, claiming that as an expert in legal matters, he should handle it to avoid potential trickery through document signing.

Unjust lawyer

Trusting his advice, Wisit left the motorcycle, along with the relevant documents, at Dhammarat’s office. However, to his shock, Wisit discovered a few days later that his motorcycle was being advertised for sale on social media. When he contacted Dhammarat for an explanation, he assured him that everything was under control.

Later, Wisit received a call from the finance company informing him that they had not yet received the motorcycle. He was about to contact Dhammarat when he saw photographs of him with his motorcycle on social media. Dhammarat was allegedly using the motorcycle as if it were his own.

Wisit attempted to retrieve the motorcycle to return it to the finance company but was unsuccessful. The court eventually issued a seizure warrant, allowing the finance company to repossess his home in Bangkok in place of the vehicle.

Wisit, unable to bear losing his family home, was forced to take out a loan to secure it. He lost a significant amount of money resolving the situation and demanded that Dhammarat take responsibility for his actions.

Dhammarat, however, maintained his innocence, asserting that he had all the necessary documents to prove his case. He also announced his intention to countersue the President of the Santi Pracha Dham Foundation, Tankhun Jitissara, and the founder of the Be One Organisation, Panida Palamart, who accompanied the victim to the complaint centre.

Dhammarat accused Tankhun and Panida of insulting him by calling him A-Dham Lawyer which means unjust.