Gold rush con: Isaan pawnshop duo sparks heist, rakes in 170m baht bonanza

Police arrested two Thai women, who worked at a pawnshop in the Isaan province of Nong Khai, for stealing gold accessories pawned by customers and hocked them again for more than 170 million baht.

A representative of the Easy Money pawnshop in Pak Kret district of Nonthaburi province, near Bangkok, filed a complaint at Pak Kret Police Station in October of last year. The representative reported that two employees, a 30 year old woman named Jeerawan Krasae-in and a woman named Sarinthip Pandaliska, committed the fraudulent activities.

According to the representative, the pawnshop discovered that the amount of gold accessories pawned by customers was less than the amount of money lent to customers. Moreover, the shop discovered some counterfeit gold accessories, despite the shop having a procedure in place to check them before taking them from customers.

After further investigation, police found that Jeerawan and Sarinthip stole the gold accessories from the pawnshop. They then hired other people, giving them 1,000 to 2,000 baht, to pawn the stolen gold at the pawnshop and transfer the money into their bank accounts.

They made between 10,000 and 100,000 baht each time. They had been doing this for more than two years and made over 170 million baht.

Sarinthip was arrested on December 26 but Jeerawan managed to evade arrest and fled to hide in Laos. Police coordinated with the Nong Khai Provincial Immigration Office to monitor every entry point waiting for Jeerawan to return to Thailand.

Jeerawan finally returned to Thailand on December 3, crossing a border checkpoint at the Thai-Laos Friendship Bridge. Officers immediately arrested her and she was transferred to the Pak Kret Police Station for further legal proceedings.

Jeerawan confessed to her crime, saying that she and Sarinthip spent all their money on online gambling. The only asset she had left was her house worth 4 million baht.

Both of them were charged under Section 335(1) of the Criminal Law: stealing from an employer. The penalty is imprisonment from one to five years and a fine from 2,000 to 10,000 baht.