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After being on the run for over two years, the Thai YouTuber Natthamon Khongchak, famous by her screen name ‘Nutty’, has been arrested in Indonesia.
Nutty and her mother, Thaniya Khongchak, were facing several arrest warrants in Thailand in connection with a financial scam.
According to local media reports, the 31-year-old influencer and her mother were arrested in Indonesia’s Dumai town of Riau province on 18 October 2024
The duo had been on the run since July 2022.
Who is Nutty?
The influencer gained popularity through her YouTube channel, Nutty’s Diary, where she showcased her dance and singing talents, particularly by recreating scenes from Blackpink and BTS.
At the time, she had more than 800,000 subscribers, so she created an audience base, which she then used to become an investment guru, according to The Bangkok Post.
According to The South China Morning Post, the fugitive YouTuber had launched a forex investment scheme in July 2022. The scheme promised her followers high returns of 25% in three months, 30% in six months, and 35% in a year, with monthly gains disbursement.
However, the investors failed to get the promised returns, and she fled the country along with her mother and their secretary, Nichaphat Rattanukrom.
In her forex trading program, over 6,000 investors lost nearly 2 billion baht, about $59 million, and they never recovered their money.
In an attempt to explain the discrepancies at the company, the influencer said the missing money was lost from the trading strategies. Later, she fled the country.
How were the Khongchaks caught after 2 years?
According to the South China Morning Post, the Khongchaks tried to assimilate into Indonesian society. However, the immigration authorities began to suspect them for not being locals due to their Thai accent, leading to their arrest.
The influencer was reportedly asked to sing the Indonesian national anthem, which she failed to do. This led the officials to delve deeper and uncover her true identity.
The mother-daughter duo was successfully deported back to Thailand and were handed over to the police when they landed at the Don Mueang airport in Bangkok on October 25.
Natthamon Khongchak is subject to 13 arrest warrants from Thailand’s Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau due to her alleged role in an investment scam, and her mother is also facing arrest in two related cases. Both have been extensively charged with offenses of fraud and misleading the public.
Upon arriving at the immigration bureau, the influencer apologised to her victims but did not elaborate on the case, reported The Bangkok Post.