By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-10-31 01:21:31 | Updated at 2024-10-31 03:36:05
2 hours ago
A Thai YouTuber was arrested after spending two years on the run in Indonesia, following an attempt to pass herself off as a local that backfired when she failed to sing the national anthem in front of the authorities.
The 31-year-old Natthamon Khongchak, known by her nickname “Nutty”, was extradited back to Thailand along with her mother, Thaniya, on October 25.
They are now facing a police investigation into the scam they initiated two years ago, which resulted in over 6,000 victims losing a staggering 2 billion baht (US$59 million), as reported by Wissanu Chimtrakul, deputy director general of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), to the Bangkok Post.
Khongchak boasted over 800,000 followers on her YouTube channel, where she went viral with her singing and dancing videos covering popular K-pop groups Blackpink and BTS. She aimed to become a K-pop idol and even made a brief debut in South Korea under the label Dream Cinema.
Subsequently, Khongchak rebranded herself as a successful investor and forex trader. On a Thai TV show, she and her mother claimed their family was affluent, owning 14 cars and employing 22 nannies.
In 2022, she launched a forex investment scheme promising her supporters exceptionally high returns: 25 per cent in three months, 30 per cent in six months, and 35 per cent in a year, all disbursed monthly.
