Accused of B22m gems swindle, suspect in high-speed train case
PUBLISHED : 8 Jan 2024 at 13:06
A 57-year-old Thai man jailed for years in Angola for major fraud has been arrested in Bangkok, accused of previously enticing a businessman to invest 22 million baht in a bogus gems project.
Raveeroj Rithchoteanan was allegedly also involved in another fraud, a bogus high-speed train project targeting politicians, when arrested at a hotel in Wang Thonglang district on Sunday, Pol Maj Gen Montree Theskhan, commander of the Crime Suppression Division, said on Monday.
It is alleged that in 2015 the suspect told a gem dealer that he represented a group of investors worth 200 billion baht. They planned a comprehensive gem project and offered a 1-billion-baht return if the victim agreed to co-invest.
Mr Raveeroj presented a fake guarantee from HSBC and took the man to Myanmar and the Philippines to support his claim, according to police.
The suspect then asked the businessman to pay some initial fees. The victim made an initial transfer of 10 million baht and seven more payments afterwards, for a total of 22.48 million baht.
Mr Raveeroj then disappeared when the victim demanded the promised return. Police said he fled the country in 2017.
He was later arrested in Angola and imprisoned there for seven years and six months for using a fake cheque for about US$50 billion to back a bogus infrastructure project he proposed to the Angolan government. His three accomplices were jailed there for three years.
The suspect sneaked back into the country in June last year and was allegedly luring a group of politicians into raising a fund for a bogus high-speed railway project. He offered a commission of 5-10 million baht.
The man was arrested at the hotel where he had set up a meeting with the politicians, Pol Maj Gen Montree said.