The Thai Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against a popular YouTuber who reportedly misled thousands of her followers to swindle around 2 billion baht.
YouTube personality Natthamon Khongchak, known to her followers as “Nutty,” is wanted on three counts, including one for conspiracy to defraud the public.
The victims have offered 5 billion baht for the whereabouts of Nutty, 30, and Nichapat Rattananukrom, 33.
The woman, who had a successful YouTube channel with more than 847,000 followers where she posted dance videos, reportedly scammed more than 6,000 victims through a forex trading fraud that promised huge returns on their investments.
In March, she invited her followers to deposit money into her account, promising a 25% return on investment for three-month contracts, 30% for six-month contracts, and 35% for 12-month contracts. However, investors had not seen any gains a month later.
The YouTuber also advertised private courses for aspiring forex traders on her Instagram account and posted images showing her alleged earnings.
According to court documents, the scam is linked to the case involving a Thai and Singaporean couple arrested in Malaysia on similar charges. The couple was accused of failing to deliver watches and other luxury items worth $32 million to their clients.
The lawyer who defended the victims and helped them file complaints with Thai police said that they had been lured by promises of returns of up to 35% on their investments.
In her latest Instagram post from May, Ms. Natthamon said she owed 1 billion baht in debt to investors and claimed her trading account and funds had been blocked by a broker in March. She promised to try to return all the money. However, the YouTuber has not responded to direct messages on her Instagram account since Tuesday, officials said.
Authorities do not know her whereabouts, but it is believed that she fled to Malaysia.
Investigators also found that Nutty, originally from Pathum Thani province, had legally changed her name at least three times. Official documents showed that her current legal name is “Suchata Kongsupachak.”
The Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) has received at least 102 complaints from people who claimed to have lost 30 million baht in total.
However, the swindled sum is expected to be higher, as new victims claiming to have lost tens of thousands of baht come forward every day, CCIB police officer Wattana Ketumpai revealed.
