Serial fraudster, 80, nabbed by Thai police

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Serial fraudster, 80, nabbed by Thai police


Image: Daily News

LOPBURI:-- A “cunning and manipulative” elderly man wanted for property fraud has been arrested by police.

Mr Piyat Prasankitwattana, 80, previously had a warrant out for his arrest since 2013 over fraud related to the sale of land and antique Buddha amulets.

Acting on a tip off, police arrested Mr Piyat on Monday as he tried to cross Pahonyotin Road in Muang Lopburi.

Mr Piyat reportedly confessed to officers from the Crime Suppression Division about his involvement in the crimes.

He told police that together with an associate identified as Mr Singtokaew who is already in police custody, the pair defrauded victims over the sale of land in Lopburi and Nakon Pratom.

The pair claimed they were real estate agents and had clients who were short of money and needed to sell land plots at heavily discounted prices.

The victims were told that all land plots were mortgaged with the bank and that all they needed to do was pay off the remainder of the mortgage to own the plots of land.

Mr Piyat and his accomplice then charged victims a 10 percent commission fee. However, there was no land and as soon as the victims paid the commission fee the fraudsters fled.

Police believe the pair ran the scam for more than two years and so far have evidence from eight victims, although officers believe more people could have been duped by the men and have urged others to come forward.

Mr Piyat also admitted to carrying out fraud related to the sale of 30 antique amulets, which he claimed were over 200 years old and were worth between 5,000-10,000 Baht each. The amulets had in fact only recently been bought from a nearby market and were not antique.

Mr Piyat told police that he has since lost all the money he received from both scams to gambling.

Police are continuing to investigate both cases.

Source: Daily News

-- 2016-02-24

[shirtless]

You got 1 now get the million, Thailand and fraud, could be a new hub.

[trogers]

Those victims were not too bright either. Money should only change hands at the Land office.

Fraudsters can only survive when there are morons filled with greed.

[leeneeds]

A wise old man taking advantage of the wise-less, dim less , stupid ness , in people, "10% commision " ha i bet he got talking to some of the victims and thought GEZ this ones really dumb i should have asked for 13%

[Jimbo2014]

Is it too late to put him in a reform program? We could reform him before he Karks it

[spidermike007]

Anytime anyone in Thailand says they have people who need cash, and are willing to sell their land at heavily discounted prices, be very careful. More than likely it is a scam. Who would buy land, and not get the land office, and a competent attorney involved? Who are these people? Do they really have that much cash to burn? Are they

Hope this clown gets put away for a long time. He deserves that. But, sadly, it will most likely not happen. Sounds like he has alot of cash. So, what happens here, when someone with alot of cash gets arrested? Well, we all know they rarely get convicted. And even if he gets convicted, will he serve time? Unlikely. Only poor people serve time here.

[dageurreotype]

Those victims were not too bright either. Money should only change hands at the Land office.

Fraudsters can only survive when there are morons filled with greed.

Not necessarily. Some POS - English - attempted to sell my house whilst I was in intensive care. Thailand attracts these types as they can pay off the cops/judiciary and walk free. Shades of grey, mate.

[dageurreotype]

Anytime anyone in Thailand says they have people who need cash, and are willing to sell their land at heavily discounted prices, be very careful. More than likely it is a scam. Who would buy land, and not get the land office, and a competent attorney involved? Who are these people? Do they really have that much cash to burn? Are they

Hope this clown gets put away for a long time. He deserves that. But, sadly, it will most likely not happen. Sounds like he has alot of cash. So, what happens here, when someone with alot of cash gets arrested? Well, we all know they rarely get convicted. And even if he gets convicted, will he serve time? Unlikely. Only poor people serve time here.

Your warning will be ignored. Greed overriding common sense not the sole preserve of the Thai.

[GAZZPA]

So, they tracked this guy down, excellent. now what about the foreigners who have ben defrauded of their property and money from ex wives in Thailand. The evidence is there, when are they going to act on these crimes?

[spidermike007]

So, they tracked this guy down, excellent. now what about the foreigners who have ben defrauded of their property and money from ex wives in Thailand. The evidence is there, when are they going to act on these crimes?

The answer is never. Not important. Farangs have so much money. All farangs are millionaires. It does not matter, as they have plenty more, and we are not responsible for them anyway. We protect our own. Plain and simple.

Invest here at your own peril. And do your due diligence. And take your time. And make sure you know the people you are investing with. And make sure you know their friends, their families, their parents. And make sure you get a half dozen references, of people who have made money from dealing with them. There is so much that can be done to protect oneself, if some common sense, due diligence, patience, and lack of greed is applied. Never respond to a sense of urgency on the part of the seller. Never. Always be prepared to walk away.

[arrowsdawdle]

You got 1 now get the million, Thailand and fraud, could be a new hub.

new

[Misterwhisper]

How do they say? One should stay active in old age, because he who rests, rusts. Seems the geezer took that old adage a little bit too much to heart and got active in the wrong field. Maybe he should've joined a Bridge club instead...

[Strangebrew]

Farang with deep pockets is deep stupid to buy property which farang can't own only condo's knucklehead.

[HerbalEd]

He's not "cunning" any more.

[swerver]

Farang with deep pockets is deep stupid to buy property which farang can't own only condo's knucklehead.

CORRECT - ONLY CONDOS.

And even then the stupid farangs get taken by having the Condo in the name of the !@#$%^&*()_+

Two smart neighbors from Down under pulled that stunt then when one went home to Down under his Thai (whatever you like to call her) brought over some shyster guys to sell the Condo to. But for some reason or another the guys got leery and backed away from the offer.

When the from Down under boy came back home to his Condo and his lovely (whatever you like to call it) he was told about what did transpire when he was away.

He was advised to see a reputable lawyer (on the line of Baker & McKenzie), who in turn advised him the Condo belonged to her, the Thai Gov. Landoffice Documents state so.

The best way to guarantee she would not try the same stunt for a second time was to have her make a loan from him (her farang husband) so they legally settled by him handing over to her Bt. 1,000,000 and register it with the Thai Gov. Land Office as a no interest, no repayment schedule loan with the Condo as collateral. No diff. than when making a loan from a bank.

So that settled the Condo being sold out from under his a##.

Would that be the last stunt??? Of course not. Next time he went to Down under she took the Pickup truck and did hide it somewhere. When he came back were is MY Pickup truck. What you mean your Pickup, it has my name in the Blue book, NOT your name. Back to the Lawyer. So a settlement was made in which she sold his Pickup to him for Bt. 50,000 and she signed the Blue book in the Lawyer's office. The Lawyer then had the Pick registered this time in his name. I can write a book about what I observed and did observe in my years here in LOS, but I have better things to do with my time. LOL.