The Lawyers Council has confirmed there is no record that a roast chicken vendor who was charged with posing as a lawyer and defending a client in court ever obtained a lawyer’s licence.
Pornthep (surname withheld), 30, has been arrested and remanded in police custody at the Kamphaeng Phet provincial court after he allegedly defended a client in Nakhon Sawan and duped the person into thinking they had won the case, according to Pol Lt Col Suwit Pit-on, chief inspector of Muang Kamphaeng Phet police.
Mr Pornthep was arrested in Muang district of Kamphaeng Phet on Oct 2. He is believed to have deceived numerous clients for over a year.
The man, who makes a living selling roast chicken in the province, asked the client to pay his legal fees. The client later checked with the court and found no verdict in the case had been passed. The client then filed a complaint against Mr Pornthep, prompting the police to ask the Lawyer’s Council to verify his professional status.
Wichien Chubthaisong, president of the council, said yesterday that Mr Pornthep was not among the lawyers registered with the council and that he most likely forged a licence using the registration number of a legally-registered lawyer.
The police will determine how many times he has acted as a bogus lawyer and defrauded people, which could see him jailed for over 10 years on a variety of criminal and civil charges including fraud and contempt of court. The council was looking into whether anyone assisted him.
The scandal was exposed by the Twitter account “Red Skull”, which said the man had also abandoned some cases halfway through the trial process.
Watcharapol Yanakrua, a Nakhon Sawan-based lawyer, said he met Mr Pornthep at a law firm in 2010 where he was on a programme for people aspiring to sit the lawyer’s exam.