Chamoy Thipyaso

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Chamoy Thipyaso
Born (1940-11-27) 27 November 1940 (age 83)
Criminal status
  • Convicted 1989
  • Released 1993[1]
Criminal chargePyramid scheme
Penalty141,078 years

Chamoy Thipyaso (

Petroleum Authority of Thailand. She is known for receiving the world's longest prison sentence (not of lifetime imprisonment) at 141,078 years for her involvement in a pyramid scheme that defrauded more than 16,000 Thais and is estimated to have been worth between $200 million and $301 million.[2]

Mae Chamoy Fund

In the late 1960s, Chamoy started a

Petroleum Authority of Thailand, the fund was able to sustain itself for a remarkably long time.[3]
Her connections to the military were a huge factor in political and business power, and so its apparent military backing made the scheme seem legitimate.

The scheme drew in 16,231 clients, and was not shut down until the mid-1980s.[2]

Arrest and prison sentence

The fund had a large number of politically powerful investors from the military and even the Royal Household and as such there were calls for the government to bail out the banks and the chit funds. After discussions with the King, the nature of which were not made public, the Mae Chamoy Fund was shut down and Chamoy was arrested. She was held in secret by the air force for several days and her trial was not held until after the losses for the military and royal personnel involved had been recovered.[4]

On 27 July 1989, Chamoy and seven accomplices were convicted of

corporate fraud. She was sentenced to a total of 141,078 years or life imprisonment sentence in prison but Thai law at the time stated that the maximum sentence that could be served for fraud was 20 years. Her sentence was further reduced, twice, and she was released in 1993.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b "Sharechmoy Thipso case". Archived from the original on Dec 18, 2005.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ .
  3. ^ dduane. "chit funds, crowdfunding and p2p banking (II)". PRACTICAL STOCK INVESTING. Retrieved 2016-03-08.
  4. .