A group of three women have recently been arrested in Bangkok right as they were about to fly away to China, as the police stopped them at Suvarnhabumi Airport on Tuesday. The women have been allegedly involved in an operation for selling fake auto insurance, tricking a number of people into purchasing insurance packages from them that ended up amounting to nothing.
Authorities have released the names of the suspects, identifying them as Chayanee Montrichok, aged 49, accompanied by her daughter Lalana Montrichok, 21, as well as Wanpen Lianlek, 31. So far, there have been complaints by more than ten people targeted at the group, accusing them of taking various people’s money for false auto insurance plans.
The packages ranged in price from 15,000 to 20,000 baht, which is considerably cheaper than the market average in the area, attracting large numbers of people very quickly. The insurance was being sold over the phone, and so far the “company” operated by the trio is estimated to have caused damages to the tune of more than 5 million baht.
The insurance policies were completely worthless for any practical purpose, according to reports, as their owners were told that they could not actually claim any damages when their car was involved in an accident. In the end, this completely defeats the point of an insurance policy, meaning that the people working with the fake company were essentially paying their money for nothing.
The local authorities have been collecting evidence and observing the actions of the group for some time now, according to reports, and they actually have quite the solid case built against them. It seems that it’s basically an open and shut case at this point, as the three women have left plenty of tracks that could be used to immediately pinpoint them as the main suspects in the various charges being brought against them.
In light of the incident, the CSD have issued a warning to the public, reminding people to stay vigilant when buying insurance – not just for their cars but any kind in general – and to make sure to check the legitimacy of the insurance agency before proceeding. Selling insurance policies has been getting a more and more serious issue in some regions lately, and those who’ve fallen victim to such a scam can often find themselves in some very troubling situations later on, especially if they ever need to actually use their insurance policies. Filing an official complaint as soon as the problem is realized is one of the most critical steps in resolving the issue without any trouble for the customer, but sometimes people realize the situation far too late to recover from it without any damage.