A 64-year-old Australian accused of swindling investors in Pattaya out of millions of baht was arrested last week at Suvarnabhumi Airport by immigration officials while trying to re-enter the country.
A warrant for the arrest of Lance Frederick Shaw was issued by Pattaya police in July last year for his alleged involvement in a Ponzi investment scheme, which fraudulently promises to pay returns to separate investors from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors, rather than from any actual profit earned.
Mr Shaw is being held at Nong Palai prison on fraud charges and will not be granted bail due to the seriousness and number of charges, Pattaya police said. A police official estimated Mr Shaw allegedly defrauded investors of 10 million baht.
Six cases have been filed against the Australian, though the number has continued to increase since his arrest. The Bangkok Post's Spectrum magazine reported on the allegations against Mr Shaw in an Aug 16 article "Gold fever sinks a posse of investors".
The investors, mostly from the UK and Australia, alleged they lost amounts between US$10,000 (341,000 baht) and $250,000 each investing in an online gold investment vehicle known as Hiperfinance.com which advertised monthly profits of 10-20%.
Mr Shaw denied any wrongdoing, saying he was was merely an investor who lost $20 million himself.
He said that while he promoted the scheme to others, he was not behind the operation. Allegations against Mr Shaw will feature in an upcoming episode of Big Trouble In Tourist Thailand, a television series airing on the UK's Bravo Channel.
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