Thai fugitive arrested in Indonesia. After two years as a fugitive of fraud case, Natthamon Khongchak was arrested in Riau, Indonesia.
Khongchak will undergo an investigation into her fraud case. Her escape ended after Khongchak could not sing the Indonesian national anthem, “Indonesia Raya”, when she wanted to apply for a passport.
Budi Argap Situngkir, head of the Riau Regional Office of the Ministry of Law and Security, said Khongchak’s arrest was made after Dumai Immigration officers suspected her when she wanted to make an Indonesian passport.
At that time, the officer asked Kongchak to sing the song “Indonesia Raya” and recite Pancasila.
“At the time of the interview, the responding officer felt suspicious of the woman, so an ordinary dialogue was conducted during the passport-making interview. The officer asked how to sing the Indonesia Raya song, Pancasila, but the person concerned did not understand at all,” Budi said, as reported by Kompas on November 4, 2024.
Under Thai law, Khongchak could be charged with fraud with a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.
Involved in a fraud case in Thailand
Khongchak and her mother are facing a police investigation into a scam they started two years ago. As Wissanu Chimtrakul, Deputy Director General of the Department of Special Investigations (DSI), told the Bangkok Post, Khongchak caused more than 6,000 victims to lose 2 billion baht.
According to a Bangkok Post report, Khongchak often used pseudonyms like Leeah, Suchata and Nutty to gain popularity.
From a YouTuber, Khongchak transformed her image into a successful investor and forex trader. On a Thai TV show, she and her mother claimed that their family was wealthy, owned 14 cars and employed 22 nannies.
In 2022, she launched a forex investment scheme that promised her supporters unusually high returns of 25 per cent in three months, 30 per cent in six months, and 35 per cent in a year, all disbursed monthly.
Fleeing to Malaysia and Indonesia
In July of that year, Khongchak, her mother, and their secretary, Nichaphat Rattanukrom, fled.
According to Department of Special Investigation (DSI) officer Thawatchai Piyaneelabut, Khongchak and her mother went to Malaysia before illegally entering Indonesia by sea on October 18.
In Indonesia, she evaded 13 warrants issued by the Thai police’s Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau by trying to pass herself off as an Indonesian citizen.
