Parents plead innocence over daughter’s alleged multiple dowry fraud
The parents of fraud suspect Jariyaporn Buayai - accused of duping 13 men into marrying her and then fleeing with their dowries and wedding gifts - told Crime Suppression Bureau investigators in Bangkok on Tuesday that they had nothing to do with the alleged crimes.
Boonliang Buayai, 72, and his wife, Samrong, 69, told deputy CSB commander Pol Colonel Suwat Saengnum that their 32-year-old daughter did not give them dowry money.
Police will check the couple’s bank accounts.
The couple said they attended four weddings with their daughter as the bride and she paid for their travel expenses.
They said that before each wedding they met the grooms at their house in Loei's Wang Saphung district.
Boonliang said they didn't intervene with their children's love lives because their children were adults.
He said he asked Jariyaporn why she had so many marriages and she replied that she was always single before starting a new relationship, so he did not probe any further because it was a personal matter.
He said he didn't request a dowry for any of the weddings and had assumed the newlyweds used the money.
He said he and his wife never brought relatives with them to attend her weddings because of a limited budget.
“I live far [from Jariyaporn] so I just came to attend the wedding without being involved in any preparation,” he said.
“When the news broke [about her alleged crimes], I’ve been scolded for nothing. My whole family is condemned for cheating. This is ugly.
“So we came to meet police to express our sincerity that we have nothing to do with the dowry money.”
He said he and his wife met with police before they were required to under the summonses issued against them. They came voluntarily to plead their innocence.
Suwat said the couple's testimony will be forwarded to investigators.
Last Tuesday complaints were filed with the CSB by 13 men who claimed to be have been defrauded by Jariyaporn of between Bt100,000 to Bt500,000 each.
They said Jariyaporn claimed to be a wealthy fruit seller called Soipjetch Paleewan and they met her via Facebook.
Each man said he spent about two months in a relationship with her before the subject of a wedding and a dowry came up.
Jariyaporn was arrested last Thursday night in Samut Sakhon province, where she was living with her husband Kittisak Tantiwatkul, 33.
She denied the allegations and said she had married only seven men.