Thai Court Issues 1,446 Years Jail Time To Restaurant Owners For Online Food Voucher Fraud

A Thailand court has sentenced two restaurant owners to 1,446 years in prison for defrauding over 20,000 people with online food vouchers.

People eat at a street restaurant implementing social distancing with plastic dividers after the Thai government relaxed measures to combat the spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus, in Bangkok's Chinatown late last month. - Thailand continued easing restrictions related to the COVID-19 novel coronavirus on May 17 by allowing various businesses to reopen, but warned that the stricter measures would be re-imposed should cases increase again. (Photo by Mladen ANTONOV / AFP)

Bangkok: A criminal court in Bangkok, Thailand has sentenced two restaurant owners to 1,446 years in prison over fraud. According to reports, this unusual punishment was given to Apichart Bowornbancharak and Prapassorn Bowornbancha who ran Laemgate Infinite seafood restaurant. Last year, they started a promotion in which customers could buy food vouchers by paying in advance online for example one of the offers was a 10-person seafood meal for 880 baht (about Rs 2156 or $28). Around 20,000 people bought vouchers worth 50 million Thai baht ($1.6m). ALSO READ: Bigg Boss 13’s Himanshi Khurana Secretly Married Asim Riaz? Flaunts Chooda, Ring & Mangalsutra In Latest Pic! A report by Thai PBS said that while the restaurant was able to deliver the meal initially, the long waiting list meant that customers had to wait several months to claim their voucher. By March, the restaurant announced that it was closing as it was unable to get enough seafood to fulfill the demand. The report by Thai PBS said that the restaurant offered to refund the customers who had purchased the vouchers and paid 375 out of 818 customers who had complained. After over 100 people complained about the scam, the owners were arrested, and the court found them guilty on 723 counts and was sentenced to 1,446 years in jail each. But after they pleaded guilty and their sentences were cut to 723 years each. The company has also been slapped with a fine of 1.8 million baht and they also have to refund 2.5 million baht in damages to the victims. Although the court has given a sentence for an extended number of years, the perpetrators will serve only for a maximum of 20 years. In 2017 a court sentenced a Ponzi scammer was sentenced to  13,000 years in prison after he was found guilty of illicit lending and fraud.