Thai YouTuber Nutty flees after allegedly scamming US$55 million from fans
- Police said Suchata ‘Nutty’ Kongsupachak lured some 6,000 victims to invest in her forex trading company, promising returns of as high as 35 per cent
- Nutty, who had more than 840,000 YouTube followers, often showed off her luxury cars, watches and property on social media
A popular Thai YouTuber accused of swindling thousands of investors out of 2 billion baht (US$55 million) in a foreign exchange trading scam has fled the country, police said.
An arrest warrant was issued for Suchata Kongsupachak, a dancer also known as “Nutty”, who faces three charges, including fraud.
Police said Suchata, 30, lured more than 6,000 victims to invest in her forex trading company, promising returns of as high as 35 per cent on their contributions.
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Wattana Ketumpai, an officer at the Cybercrime Investigation Bureau, told the Nation newspaper that Suchata often showed off her purchases, such as luxury cars, watches and property, on social media.
So far 102 victims had filed complaints to authorities totalling 30 million baht (US$825,000), Wattana said.
The YouTuber with more than 840,000 followers claimed she amassed her wealth from forex trading.
Enticed by the prospect of higher profits, Suchata’s fans started pouring thousands of baht into the scheme in April, but their dream turned sour when the influencer said in an Instagram post that she had lost all the money due to a “trading mistake”.
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A lawyer representing dozens of victims said one person alone deposited 18 million baht (US$493,500) into Suchata’s bank account.
The aggrieved investors have offered a 5 million baht (US$137,000) reward for information about the whereabouts of the Thai national, who is believed to have escaped to a neighbouring country.
Police officer Wattana said further investigation also revealed Suchata was linked to the case of a Thai and Singaporean couple arrested in Malaysia on fraud charges earlier this month. The pair was accused of failing to deliver luxury watches and bags worth S$32 million (US$22 million) to customers in Singapore.
“This scam is similar to other Ponzi schemes, but the differences are public relations and deceptive methods,” Wattana said. “There could be more complaints (from victims) in the future.”
