Pattaya’s biggest ever property scam: Ukrainian man on the run after 300 MILLION baht fraud

[steve187]

the immigration smart bmw's know where he is

[jacko45k]

9 hours ago, worgeordie said:

It also helps them when their victims are greedy and gullible.

regards worgeordie  

It has happened to me a couple of times in  my life and I seriously have never thought myself to be either. Overly-trusting and keen to improve my life perhaps. 

I suspect many of us have this idea of the whiz kid who can't fail and we put faith in them. Even when it starts to look fishy, one goes into denial. 

[balo]

7 hours ago, tlandtday said:

Why are they blanking out his eyes so he never gets caught?  The guy is a criminal.

Fixed

[pixelaoffy]

Number of naive folk who will part will money based on photos and even a fake site visit in properties that the scammer shows or takes them to!

[tifino]

16 hours ago, webfact said:

One victim said he transferred 5 million baht to Smolyar who in return gave him a signed sales contract and the keys to what he thought would become his second home in the sun. 

 

The man bought furniture and even moved into the property before returning to his home country. Due to return later in the year, Smolyar assured the man he would have the title deeds to the property when he next visited Pattaya.

 

However, when he returned to Pattaya six months later, the man was horrified to discover someone else living in the apartment. Not only that, after finally obtaining the deeds to the property, the man discovered that he wasn’t the legal owner of the apartment.

 

To date, the man still hasn’t received the apartment or the 5 million baht he originally paid Smolyer for the property. 

 

The Ukran man should have tried the legit method for same (sort of)  result... the Time Share market... Sold for Blocks of 3 Months per buyer

[scorecard]

15 hours ago, ianezy0 said:

Easy to read and have some confidence that it will never happen to you. But the truth is that these scammers are so convincing. Scary stuff, which I hope doesn’t happen to anyone here who is now forewarned.

Convincing; sure?

 

But also true many buyers are quite naive and check nothing, or perhaps think about checking but don't know how to check, so there is no check.

 

  

[Emdog]

Biggest scam? Whatever became of that 90 story condo that was going to be built in Jomtien?

[30la]

16 hours ago, webfact said:

Clients and investors of Smolyar said they found him to be likable, friendly and above all, trustworthy.

Trust is fine, control is better ...

[sirocco]

Hello, post 37, 

Not true, not all buyers are great naive and check point by point the content of their contract and follow the progress of construction.
But unfortunately, there is always the grain of sand.
This is what happened to HUA HIN where we counted, for this condonium, as buyers, lawyers, doctors, entrepreneurs, relatives of the late king.
The promoters disappeared in the wild, with the money of the future owners.
And the lawyers wandered the buyers.

[worgeordie]

8 hours ago, Sujo said:

A person is considered greedy because they buy a condo?

I was talking about victims of Con Men or Women,in general,

not just this one.

regards Worgeordie

 

[fforest1]

Novostivl also claims that victims reported the fraud to Pattaya police but were told by officers there was not enough evidence to take the matter further.

 

 

So do the police have enough evidence that a crime has been committed yet? Or maybe he is still in good standing because this is just how real estate brokers roll in Pattaya...

 

 

Edited March 6, 2020 by fforest1

[Ventenio]

wow.....so these old guys with just enough to buy a "condo" (not built like back home) come to Pattaya to go to walking street every night.   

 

instead they get ..............d  by girls and a Ukrainian guy.  

[Ventenio]

5 minutes ago, fforest1 said:

not enough evidence

this guy bought me a new car, and gold, and i have 11 off-shore accounts.  

but then he tried to sell a condo to a brother of a friend of a mistress of a sister of......the wrong person.  

[scubascuba3]

20 minutes ago, Nigel Sri Thanonchai said:

One less nefarious farang,many more to go ,he'll be caught as will many more 

he must have been planning his escape for a while, so I'm guessing a fake passport and a place to live carefree, on 300M he can continue being the big man

[phantomfiddler]

A well known saying is "When in a foreign country, always beware of your own" ! Very true. The Thais may very well charge you 40 Bht for a 10 Bht taxi ride, but it will be the lurking foreigner waiting to get his hands on your life savings ????

[DPKANKAN]

11 hours ago, ChouDoufu said:

this is supposedly the biggest ever scam?

only 300 million baht.

 

that would barely cover the purchase of 8 floating plastic pontoon piers.

How dare he??? Taking money making scam jobs away from Thai people!!! Disgraceful. ????????????????????????????????????????????????

[TheFishman1]

Buyer beware you’re in Thailand TIT

[Tarteso]

Clients and investors of Smolyar said they found him to be likable, friendly and above all, trustworthy.

 

Ukrainian? ..  with that face?  Come on!

[IAMHERE]

18 hours ago, worgeordie said:

All the traits of aY Con Man, except the trustworthy part,

Who would have thought this  kind of con could happen

in Pattaya .????

regards worgeordie

Not much there without your location. This post indicates your living in a safe zone. Many would like to live there.

 

[hotchilli]

18 hours ago, webfact said:

Novostivl also claims that victims reported the fraud to Pattaya police but were told by officers there was not enough evidence to take the matter further.

Must have some good connections... he couldn't have done all that alone without local help?

[BestB]

1 thing i do not understand , why did he leave wife and daughter behind?

[justin case]

why blur his face ?

[Tchooptip]

 

Novostivl also claims that victims reported the fraud to Pattaya police but were told by officers there was not enough evidence to take the matter further...

No it's impossible ????  (????)

[d2b2]

Approximately, how much evidence do the police need to investigate and press charges?

[spiekerjozef]

He should have "run" after the 200mln.

He got greedy...

[BestB]

2 minutes ago, d2b2 said:

Approximately, how much evidence do the police need to investigate and press charges?

You do not know what evidence people took with them and being Russian , most likely with zero English , unable to explain anything properly or through a translator 

[spiekerjozef]

Let me guess he drove around in a Lamborghini in Pattaya?

All these real estate scammers drive cars like that.

Top Tip: So if you buy a condo from a new condo project always ask what car the boss is driving...

[BestB]

40 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Must have some good connections... he couldn't have done all that alone without local help?

No need for local help, he preyed on the fact how stupid some Russians are. He provided them with paperwork but without stamps or signatures, basically empty forms which he filed out himself and passed as official document 

[simtemple]

The fact that he was a Ukrainian should have been a warning.

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/news/2015/feb/04/welcome-to-the-most-corrupt-nation-in-europe-ukraine

[BestB]

1 minute ago, spiekerjozef said:

Let me guess he drove around in a Lamborghini in Pattaya?

All these real estate scammers drive cars like that.

Top Tip: So if you buy a condo from a new condo project always ask what car the boss is driving...

Personally do not know any nor seen any driving Lamborghini . Can you name a few who drive one please ?