Briton victim of ‘property scam’

A British man allegedly swindled over a real estate purchase in Koh Samui, Surat Thani, met with the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) yesterday.

David Edward Cheppell met with Pol Lt Col Suchart Imsawat, deputy superintendent of CIB’s Division 5, to file a complaint against a property agency that sold him two apartments.

Mr Cheppell was accompanied by his lawyer Tewit Haji and Pattarakorn Teephaboonrat from the Thailand Consumer Council.

According to Mr Pattarakorn, Mr Cheppell had bought the apartments from the agency for 15 million baht but did not receive any title deeds. He found out later that the apartments were not authorised to be sold, hence no deeds.

“At least five residents, including Mr Cheppell, were tricked into buying apartments from this particular agency, which caused at least one billion baht of damage,” Mr Pattarakorn alleged.