Her attempt to pass as a local in Indonesia failed when she could not sing the national anthem.
After two years of evading authorities in Indonesia, Thai YouTuber Natthamon Khongchak, also known as ‘Nutty’, was extradited to Thailand. On October 25, the 31-year-old and her mother, Thaniya, were taken into custody and returned to Thailand.
According to The Bangkok Post, Wissanu Chimtrakul, deputy director general of Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation (DSI), made the arrest following claims that Khongchak and her mother planned a scam that defrauded more than 6,000 people of about 2 billion baht ($59 million). dollars).
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Khongchak, who previously rose to popularity with over 800,000 YouTube followers, initially built her platform by posting song and dance videos about well-known K-pop groups such as Blackpink and BTS. She later attempted to become a K-pop idol in South Korea and briefly debuted under the Dream Cinema label South China Morning Mail.
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In recent years, Khongchak has shifted her focus and established herself as an experienced investor and forex trader. She claimed her family was very wealthy, including 14 cars and a team of 22 nannies, as she shared on a Thai television program. However, her attempt to pass as a resident of Indonesia failed when she failed to sing the national anthem, which ultimately led to her arrest.
She reportedly tried to apply for an Indonesian passport to travel abroad, but immigration officials discovered her foreign accent and asked her to sing the Indonesian national anthem and recite the country’s constitution. When she failed to do so, her true identity was revealed.