This is as a glamorous Thai YouTuber accused of scamming her followers out of £47million returns to Thailand in police custody after two years on the run.
Natthamon Khongchak, 32, fled to a remote Indonesian island in 2022, where she was eventually caught by police and realized she could not sing the national anthem.
The model, whose nickname was Nutty, posed as a currency trader as she lived the high life flaunting swimsuits, designer handbags and overseas trips to luxury hotels.
He left Thailand after the massive investment scheme collapsed and more than 6,000 suspected victims lodged complaints in Bangkok.
Speaking to local media, one woman said she had lost the equivalent of £42,000 in the apparent scam because she planned to send her children to university with the loot.
This is the moment Thai YouTuber Natthamon Khongchak (seen with her mother), 32, returns to Thailand in police custody after two years on the run.
The model, known to her fans as Nutty, is accused of scamming her followers out of £47 million.
Natthamon posed as a currency trader while living the high life flaunting swimsuits, designer handbags and foreign trips.
Two years later, Natthamon was reportedly applying for an Indonesian passport that would allow him to legally travel abroad from his new home, but immigration officials became suspicious of his accent.
He He reportedly asked him to sing the national anthem and recite the country’s constitution to test his suspicions, but Natthamon failed.
Police said he later broke down during questioning and admitted he had entered the country illegally.
Further checks with Thai officials, who had initially allowed her to escape the ring, revealed that she was a wanted fugitive in the massive investment scam.
Natthamon, who had more than 800,000 subscribers at her peak, first fled to Kuala Lumpur with her secretary Nichapat Ratananukrom before taking a boat to a remote Indonesian island, where she was later joined by her mother.
Both were arrested in the city of Dumai on the island of Sumatra on October 2 and were deported. to Thailand.
Footage shows them arriving in Bangkok yesterday flanked by members of the country’s Department of Special Investigation (DSI).
Both are in preventive detention and face long prison sentences.
She fled to a remote island in Indonesia in 2022 when complaints against her came in, but she was eventually captured by police on October 2 and noted that she could not sing the national anthem.
Footage shows Natthamon returning to Bangkok yesterday flanked by members of the country’s Special Investigation Department.
Phaisal Ruangri, a lawyer who campaigns to help fraud victims, claimed he “used his popularity to deceive his followers”. Her fans believed she was a successful businesswoman. Natthamon is seen posing in a luxury car
Natthamon’s plan began to unravel in April 2022, when investors began claiming that they had not received the 35 percent return they had been promised.
Natthamon had over 800,000 subscribers at its peak.
Contrary to reports, Natthamon told local media that he had turned himself in.
“I didn’t mean to run away,” he said. ‘I never thought about that. I turned myself in to the police.
‘I want to apologize to everyone for what I have done. “I want to apologize for embarrassing the country.”
Speaking on Friday, Police Lieutenant General Thatchai Pitaneelabut, deputy commissioner general of the Royal Thai Police, said: “The suspect has been arrested for financial fraud related to stock trading with damages of more than two billion baht.
“She is currently under investigation and will be referred to DSI for legal action.”
Natthamon regularly shared trading tips, posing as a forex trader on his YouTube channel.
Her Instagram was flooded with videos showing the star’s luxury lifestyle, including her visiting tropical beaches, posing with expensive cars and participating in dance classes.
But attorneys representing the alleged victims filed multiple complaints alleging that she used her influence on social media platforms to lure people into investing money with the promise of quick 35 percent returns before defaulting.
Phaisal Ruangri, a lawyer who campaigns to help victims of fraud, He claimed that an investor had deposited up to £423,000 in Natthamon and had yet to receive any return.
He said: ‘Investors trusted her because she was a popular YouTube star with almost a million subscribers.
‘She used her popularity to deceive her followers. Her fans believed she was a successful businesswoman.
Police held a press conference to announce that they had caught Natthamon, saying: “The suspect has been arrested for financial fraud related to stock trading with damages of more than two billion baht.”
Contrary to reports, Natthamon told local media that he had turned himself in.
His mother was also arrested in the city of Dumai on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, and deported.
Natthamon’s plan began to unravel in April 2022, when investors began claiming that they had not received the return they had been promised.
A month later, Natthamon declared in an Instagram post that he had made a trading mistake and lost all the money, promising to pay his investors back.
However, she also told her followers that she would not be able to pay other investors if she was jailed.
One woman told local media: ‘I was saving this money to send my children to university.
‘I thought the money Nutty promised would help us live a more comfortable life. Now I’m sick with worry because I’ve lost everything.’
According to the arrest warrant, Natthamon and his secretary Nichapat Ratananukrom were wanted “for defrauding people together.”
They are accused of “advertising or announcing to the public money loans whose wage benefit rates are higher than the highest interest rate a financial institution can pay.”