The Criminal Court yesterday sentenced Monta Yokrattanakan, better known as Ying Kai, to three years in jail for human trafficking and ordered her to pay 590,007 baht compensation to a young woman forced to work as her maid.
Ying Kai: Abused maid's rights
Monta, 60, was accused of coercing three women into working as her maids from June 2006 to October 2010 and failing to pay them promised salaries.
She was also accused of threatening one of the women with legal action against her parents if she refused to work for her.
Monta was yesterday taken from the Central Women's Correctional Institution, where she had been detained, to the court.
The court found that the three women had worked as Monta's maids, but there was evidence to prove that only one of them had actually had her rights abused.
The court ruled Monta failed to pay the 6,000-baht monthly salary to the victim, Kanchana Ponglarpsoonthorn, or send her to a nursing school as promised.
The court also ruled that Monta had seized Ms Kanchana's ID card and abused her rights, and was therefore guilty of human trafficking.
It sentenced Monta to four years in prison, commuted to three for her willingness to cooperate with the investigators, and ordered her to pay 590,007 baht in compensation to Ms Kanchana.
During the court hearings, Ms Kanchana told the court that Monta visited her home in Mae Hong Son in May 2008 and promised to provide financial support for her to go through a nursing school.
Monta also gave 5,000 baht to her parents, Ms Kanchana told the court.
But when she came to work for Monta in Bangkok, Monta seized her ID card and did not pay her the promised salary, Ms Kanchana said.
In June, the Criminal Court sentenced Monta to seven years and six months in jail for a violation of Section 112 of the Criminal Code, the lese majeste law.
According to an indictment submitted by the prosecution, Monta claimed to be a Khunying, a title bestowed by His Majesty the King, and used it to seek undue favours and benefits, thereby causing damage to the higher institution.
Monta emerged as one of the most notorious fraud and lese majeste suspects last year when one of her many victims exposed her alleged long history of criminal acts.
At that time, she was widely known as Ying Kai, her nickname leading to a public misunderstanding that she owned the royally conferred Khunying title.
