100 million baht deposited with ‘well-known’ Thai bank goes missing

San Pa Tong Agriculture Cooperative claims that more than 100 million baht of its deposit with a reputable bank has mysteriously disappeared.

There has apparently been no sign of the money despite three attempts to negotiate with the bank.

The station’s chief, Colonel Kittipong Petchmunee, agreed to look into the case.

“We will launch an investigation and take action as soon as possible,” he said.

The cooperative’s president Chaiwised Deesuwan and manager Suchitra Mano led 200 members from Chiang Mai’s San Pa Tong district to Muang district on Friday to follow up on a previous police complaint.

Last Sunday, Chaiwised filed a complaint with the police station regarding the missing 100 million baht. He said the account now only has 4,000 baht left.

Suchitra said the bank had contacted the cooperative two years ago, offering an interest rate of 3.8% for deposits. She said the cooperative decided to shift some 70 million to the bank because it believed the high-interest rate would be beneficial for its members.

Besides, she said, the cooperative did not think anything would happen because it was a large and trustworthy bank.

Suchitra added that the deposit of more than 70 million baht should have grown to around 104 million baht at the interest rate offered.

Chaiwised said the disappeared money would have affected some 10,000 cooperative members. He also insisted that the cooperative had not made any withdrawals.

He went on say that because all its funds had been shifted to the bank, the cooperative had lost out on many investment opportunities.

The bank has apparently agreed to take responsibility for the missing funds, but it has set no deadline, he said. Also, the bank is yet to provide any details on how the money went missing, Chaiwised added.

The cooperative’s management has said they will file more complaints against the bank with relevant authorities to follow up on the case.