Time up for Mae Chamoy, Secret stashes of gold and cash discovered

Thailand’s most notorious chit fund operator, Chamoy Thipyaso, was arrested and charged with fraud after emerging from three months in hiding.

Senior police officers were also questioned after investigators found they (and their aides and secretaries) were also involved in the lucrative business.

Insisting she had stopped the operation, Chamoy ignored the deadline for payment of 41.6 million baht in business taxes, prompting the Revenue Department to order banks to freeze her accounts. However, she had withdrawn most of the money already.

On May 2, the House of Representatives passed an executive decree outlawing chit funds. A total of 14,166 people, who had invested more than 4 billion baht, filed complaints with police. Discoveries were made of Mae Chamoy’s treasures, which included gold bars and ornaments, jewellery, luxury cars, as well as millions in cash stashed in secret compartments and houses across the country.

Mae Chamoy was eventually convicted of fraud and sentenced to 20 years in jail.