Beautiful Thai fitness influencer arrested over Forex trading scam

An attractive Thai fitness influencer was arrested for allegedly scamming Forex investors out of funds worth more than 133,000 GBP.

Apinya, 31, who goes by the online handle 'Yuki', was said to have used her good looks to lure her social media followers into investing in a website called 'Sulfver'.

She promised to nearly double their investments by offering interest rates exceeding the legal limits in Thailand.

Though the returns initially came as promised, payments eventually halted and her site 'Sulfver' went offline.

Police launched a search after 16 people filed a complaint against Apinya with the Economic Crime Suppression Division (ECD).

Police Colonel Krit Worathat of the ECD led a police unit that arrested Apinya at a luxury condominium in Bangkok on August 20.

The police chief said: 'The victims said they were invited by a TikTok influencer named Yuki, a fitness trainer with more than a million followers, to invest in foreign currency through a website. However, they later found that the company was not registered as a legal entity in Thailand or abroad. '

Valuables worth more than six million baht (around 133,000 GBP), including five Louis Vuitton bags, a Dior bag, an Hermes belt, a Lotus sports car, a BMW, and two gold bars, were also seized from Apinya's condo. Officers also confiscated 10 bank books, six ATM cards, six phones, two tablets, and two laptops. 

Investigations found that two other TikTok celebrities, identified as Rattarut and Praphakorn, were involved in the suspected fraud.

Their alleged victims were reported to have wired the money to the bank account of a certain Santisuk.

Rattarut, Praphakorn, and Santisuk have also been found and detained by police. The suspects reportedly admitted to recruiting investors, but denied defrauding them.

Police said they will be charged with 'joint fraud of the public', 'joint fraudulent borrowing of money', and 'jointly introducing distorted or forged computer data, in whole or in part, into a computer system to cause damage to others or the public.'

(1 THB = 0.022 GBP)