RATCHABURI - A group of car owners have complained that a bogus reporter deceived them into renting out their pickup trucks, supposedly for a short TV drama on royal development projects, and then fled with their vehicles.
Eleven residents from several districts in Ratchaburi lodged a complaint with the provincial Damrongtham centre on Wednesday.
Ms Naree Sae Lim, 31, of tambon Kaem Onn in Chom Bung district, said she and the other 10 complainants had fallen victim to a man she identified as Voravut Aramrot
Mr Voravut had claimed to be a reporter for TV Channel 1 when he approached them saying he needed to hire several pickup trucks for the shooting of a short TV drama featuring royal development projects initiated by the late King Rama IX, she said.
The man had told them that a TV production firm, DT Production Movie Group, wanted to rent several pickup trucks at 1,000 baht a day. The shooting of the drama would be completed in October, they were told.
Ms Naree said when they heard it would feature the work of the late King they wanted to participate, so they offered to rent their vehicles to him. They had signed contracts with "Mr Voravut", with the rental period 5-7 days.
The main gained their trust when he paid the fees and returned their trucks on time. Then he asked to hire them again. They agreed. Since then they had not received any money. Mr Voravut had vanished and could not be reached.
They had tried to file complaints with their local police stations. Ban Pong and Khao Din police stations had received their complaints but police at Photharam and Muang stations refused them, saying they needed to compile more evidence and hire lawyers.
They had searched for their missing vehicles and learned they had been pledged as loan collateral to Somboon Thepweera, owner of a resort in Photharam district.
To get their vehicles back they had to pay 50,000-85,000 baht to Mr Somboon, otherwise their vehicles would be sold to other people. They had no choice but to borrow the money from loan sharks.
The complainants said they believed more people might be victims of Mr Voravut. They asked the Damrongtham centre to have the bogus TV reporter brought to task. Their complaint was accepted by Ms Praparat Nakhonpajon, director of the complaint centre.
The car owners file their complaint the provincial Dhamrongtham Centre on Wednesday, asking that the "TV reporter" who swindled them be brought to justice. (Photo by Saichon Srinuanchan)