No evidence of flight being chartered by ‘Shogun’, police say
INQUIRIES with two airlines found no information that Pasit “Shogun” Ariyalapit – an alleged scammer accused of ripping off more than Bt50 million from thousands of victims, many of who were stranded at Suvarnabhumi Airport earlier this month – ever arranged a charter flight to Japan, a senior police officer said on Friday.
Central Investigation Bureau chief Pol Lt Gen Thitirat Nonghanpitak said both Thai Airways and Cathay Pacific confirmed on Thursday that Pasit had never chartered flights overseas with them.
Thitirat said police would later seek further confirmation and details of air traffic from the Aeronautical Radio of Thailand Ltd. He said Pasit’s claim to have chartered flights to take people abroad was highly likely a lie used to dupe people.
After a meeting of related agencies to discuss the case, Thitirat said investigators believed Pasit was the main person in a fraud network and the “Hong Kong investor” who she claimed backed her operation was likely a lie. But police would check that information further.
Police also believed Pasit’s network cited the names of actors and actresses and other famous people to boost its credibility with potential customers.
Thitirat reported that nearly 500 people nationwide had filed complaints against Pasit. Assets worth Bt10 million linked to Pasit have already been impounded.