Court gives amulet fraudster Chaowarin a year in prison
Bangkok Post
15 Aug 2014
POST REPORTERS
Chaowarin: Known as the ‘treasure hunter’
Former Pheu Thai Party MP for Ratchaburi Chaowarin Latthasaksiri was yesterday sentenced to one year in prison after the Appeal Court found him guilty of fraud. The sentence was not suspended.
The court gave its ruling as Chaowarin, dubbed “Koborin” for his perceived image as a treasure hunter, appealed a lower court ruling sentencing him to two years in prison, commuted from three.
The Criminal Court found him guilty of deceiving members of the public about Jatukarm Ramathep talismans in 2007.
Between May 1 and June 30, 2007, Chaowarin produced and marketed 40,000 talismans, falsely claiming the amulets had been blessed at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha and the City Pillar.
The sales campaign for the talismans included an advertisement in Thai Rath newspaper on June 16, 2007.
Chaowarin’s claim of religious ceremonies for the talismans at the two well-known sites was a lie, the court said.
Chaowarin denied committing t he crime during police interrogation, but he later confessed in court.
The Criminal Court commuted the jail sentence from three years to two due to his confession.
He appealed the ruling and sought a lighter punishment as well as a suspended jail term.
During the appeal, he was temporarily released on 200,000-baht bail.
The Appeal Court yesterday agreed with the lower court’s ruling because the offences he committed were considered to have the potential to be a serious threat to society. The court also dismissed his appeal for a suspended jail term.
However, the court said his offence only affected two parties, one paying 1,791 baht and the other 1,194 baht for talismans, and the defendant had already refunded them.
The court found the two-year jail term handed down by the Criminal Court too excessive and commuted the prison term to one year and six months in jail.
As his confession was useful, Chaowarin’s sentence was commuted to one year, with no suspended jail term.
Chaowarin made headlines in 2001, when he was a senator, after claiming to have uncovered billions of dollars worth of World War II booty left behind by the Japanese army in a cave near the Myanmar border.
The claim fooled the then-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra into flying to the supposed treasure site by helicopter, only to emerge red-faced and empty-handed.
Bangkok Post
15 Aug 2014
POST REPORTERS
Chaowarin: Known as the ‘treasure hunter’
Former Pheu Thai Party MP for Ratchaburi Chaowarin Latthasaksiri was yesterday sentenced to one year in prison after the Appeal Court found him guilty of fraud. The sentence was not suspended.
The court gave its ruling as Chaowarin, dubbed “Koborin” for his perceived image as a treasure hunter, appealed a lower court ruling sentencing him to two years in prison, commuted from three.
The Criminal Court found him guilty of deceiving members of the public about Jatukarm Ramathep talismans in 2007.
Between May 1 and June 30, 2007, Chaowarin produced and marketed 40,000 talismans, falsely claiming the amulets had been blessed at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha and the City Pillar.
The sales campaign for the talismans included an advertisement in Thai Rath newspaper on June 16, 2007.
Chaowarin’s claim of religious ceremonies for the talismans at the two well-known sites was a lie, the court said.
Chaowarin denied committing t he crime during police interrogation, but he later confessed in court.
The Criminal Court commuted the jail sentence from three years to two due to his confession.
He appealed the ruling and sought a lighter punishment as well as a suspended jail term.
During the appeal, he was temporarily released on 200,000-baht bail.
The Appeal Court yesterday agreed with the lower court’s ruling because the offences he committed were considered to have the potential to be a serious threat to society. The court also dismissed his appeal for a suspended jail term.
However, the court said his offence only affected two parties, one paying 1,791 baht and the other 1,194 baht for talismans, and the defendant had already refunded them.
The court found the two-year jail term handed down by the Criminal Court too excessive and commuted the prison term to one year and six months in jail.
As his confession was useful, Chaowarin’s sentence was commuted to one year, with no suspended jail term.
Chaowarin made headlines in 2001, when he was a senator, after claiming to have uncovered billions of dollars worth of World War II booty left behind by the Japanese army in a cave near the Myanmar border.
The claim fooled the then-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra into flying to the supposed treasure site by helicopter, only to emerge red-faced and empty-handed.
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