By tonight, police are hopeful they will be able to arrest the woman nicknamed “Shogun the fortune teller” who is believed to be behind the Japan package tour scam that left a thousand people stranded at the airport last night.
Shogun, whose real name is Pasit Arinchalapit, faces fraud charges after allegedly scamming people to pay for a tour package to Osaka for THB9,000 – THB20,000 (USD260 – USD580).
It was reported that Shogun, the managing director of the WealthEver supplement company, had her vendors sell the package tour in a pyramid scheme. The cheap travel deal spread by word of mouth via the LINE application, Matichon reported.
Police estimate she could have made off of about THB20 million, about USD580,000.
Police have instructed immigration police to look out for the suspect as her mother, Nitchamon Sangprapa, and aunt, Chanchai Nakrit, were arrested as accomplices this afternoon as they were grocery shopping in Ranong province.
The two women said that they are vendors for the supplement company, which has actually flown their employees to Japan before. Photos from the previous trip added credibility to the cheap package tour offer, Thairath reported.
As the manhunt for Shogun continues, back at Suvarnabhumi Airport, victims who traveled from the countryside to go on their dream trip were still waiting at the terminal as of this posting to hear an update.
A group of three elderly women said they traveled from Nakhon Sri Thammarat and Surat Thani to the airport after persuaded to buy the tour from an acquaintance in the area. They paid THB9,000 each and never even received a tour itinerary. They just knew they were going to Japan. It was to have been their first time abroad.
One of the women said her daughter bought a new suitcase to wish her a happy trip, but she arrived at the airport only to find out she was scammed, according to a Facebook post by Thai PBS reporter Phattraporn Tanngam.
https://www.facebook.com/phattraporn.tpbs/posts/1444368028917653?pnref=story
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Thousand Thais scammed with cheap Japan package tour, left stranded at airport
