BANGKOK, March 11 (TNA) — Police arrested a man for allegedly luring the public into buying surgical masks although he did not have the product.
Pol Maj Gen Nathasak Chaonasai, commander of the Consumer Protection Police Division, said Watcharapong Yokat, 27, was arrested for opening many Facebook pages to announce the sales of medical masks at a discount but actually the man did not have such a stock for sales.
The suspect opened Facebook pages for only two days and more than 200 people transferred altogether about 1 million baht to him hoping to buy face masks, the commander said.
The suspect had been wanted under four arrest warrants for alleged embezzlement, Pol Maj Gen Nathasak said. He warned consumers to check the profiles of online vendors and see how long their Facebook pages had been opened.
He added that his division had seized about 53,000 face masks from vendors who violated the law and would send the seized products to parties in need.
The vendors who overpriced face masks were liable to a jail term of up to five years and/or a fine of up to 100,000 baht, the commander said. (TNA)
