Popular Post webfact Posted March 5, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted March 5, 2020 Pattaya’s biggest ever property scam: Ukrainian man on the run after 300 MILLION baht fraud A Ukrainian man is on the run after allegedly carrying out what has been described as Pattaya’s biggest ever property fraud. Felix Smolyar, who holds Ukrainian and Canadian passports, has lived in Pattaya for almost a decade where he ran the Liberty Group real estate agency. Smolyar is accused of taking payments for condos that didn’t exist or which were already owned by someone else. Clients and investors of Smolyar said they found him to be likable, friendly and above all, trustworthy. That was until they found out they had been victim of the scam, which conservative estimates put to be worth in the region of 300 million baht. After transferring funds to Smolyar, victims describe receiving what they believed to be chanotes or title deeds for their condos, only to discover later that the documents were fake. Others transferred money to Smolyar only to discover later that several people had purchased the same condo. One victim said he transferred 5 million baht to Smolyar who in return gave him a signed sales contract and the keys to what he thought would become his second home in the sun. The man bought furniture and even moved into the property before returning to his home country. Due to return later in the year, Smolyar assured the man he would have the title deeds to the property when he next visited Pattaya. However, when he returned to Pattaya six months later, the man was horrified to discover someone else living in the apartment. Not only that, after finally obtaining the deeds to the property, the man discovered that he wasn’t the legal owner of the apartment. To date, the man still hasn’t received the apartment or the 5 million baht he originally paid Smolyer for the property. And it wasn't only clients and investors who suffered at the hands of Smolyar - staff at the Liberty Group have also been left out of pocket. Before fleeing, staff say Smolyar raided the company accounts of every last bit of money, including rental deposits from customers and staff salaries. Russian news site Novostivl reports that Smolyar has already left Thailand, flying from Suvarnabhumi airport where he was thought to be headed to Hong Kong. Smolyar leaves behind a wife and four year old daughter in Pattaya. Just before he fled, he reportedly sent his daughter a video message asking for forgiveness for treating so many people so badly. Novostivl also claims that victims reported the fraud to Pattaya police but were told by officers there was not enough evidence to take the matter further. -- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2020-03-05 Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking Thailand news and visa info 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post worgeordie Posted March 5, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted March 5, 2020 20 minutes ago, webfact said: Clients and investors of Smolyar said they found him to be likable, friendly and above all, trustworthy. All the traits of a Con Man, except the trustworthy part, Who would have thought this kind of con could happen in Pattaya .???? regards worgeordie 1 1 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubascuba3 Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 which condos? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post White Christmas13 Posted March 5, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted March 5, 2020 3 minutes ago, worgeordie said: All the traits of a Con Man, except the trustworthy part, Who would have thought this kind of con could happen in Pattaya .???? regards worgeordie It happens all over Thailand and not just in Pattaya 13 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post from the home of CC Posted March 5, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted March 5, 2020 expats burning expats, you have to be a little stupid to trust someone just because they're born in the west.. 4 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieH Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 derogatory generalization removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david555 Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 19 minutes ago, worgeordie said: All the traits of a Con Man, except the trustworthy part, Who would have thought this kind of con could happen in Pattaya .???? regards worgeordie next one in wait....and more ones to surface to come as Pattaya economic times get worse ….. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post ianezy0 Posted March 5, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted March 5, 2020 Easy to read and have some confidence that it will never happen to you. But the truth is that these scammers are so convincing. Scary stuff, which I hope doesn’t happen to anyone here who is now forewarned. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smedly Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 I wonder how many more will be checking documents after reading this Liberty is very well known and well used 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pravda Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 I knew it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post saakura Posted March 5, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted March 5, 2020 5 hours ago, from the home of CC said: expats burning expats, you have to be a little stupid to trust someone just because they're born in the west.. Ukraine is in the west?? Or should you stop blindly trusting white skinned foreigners? 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metisdead Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 Posts in violation of fair use policy have been removed: 14) You will not post any copyrighted material except as fair use laws apply (as in the case of news articles). Please only post a link, the headline and the first three sentences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post ChouDoufu Posted March 5, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted March 5, 2020 this is supposedly the biggest ever scam? only 300 million baht. that would barely cover the purchase of 8 floating plastic pontoon piers. 7 2 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post fforest1 Posted March 5, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted March 5, 2020 Why blur the thief's face?.......To not hurt his feelings?.... 5 3 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fforest1 Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 1 minute ago, ChouDoufu said: this is supposedly the biggest ever scam? only 300 million baht. that would barely cover the purchase of 8 floating plastic pontoon piers. This is only 10 million dollars.......Hardly a kings ransom..... 1 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worgeordie Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 5 hours ago, ianezy0 said: Easy to read and have some confidence that it will never happen to you. But the truth is that these scammers are so convincing. Scary stuff, which I hope doesn’t happen to anyone here who is now forewarned. It also helps them when their victims are greedy and gullible. regards worgeordie 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post sameasb4 Posted March 5, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted March 5, 2020 I rent a condo from that agency so my dep is gone small change compared those who bought lax or zero regulation in property market here. $10m is a nice retirement package in a market that is set to crash 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airalee Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 1 hour ago, fforest1 said: Why blur the thief's face?.......To not hurt his feelings?.... I was wondering the same thing...and then I googled his name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yinn Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 Steal from thai worker. And other farang. https://group-liberty.com/liberty-group-real-estate-our-team/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Banana7 Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 37 minutes ago, Airalee said: I was wondering the same thing...and then I googled his name. Just go to the company website and see his photo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airalee Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 5 minutes ago, Banana7 said: Just go to the company website and see his photo. Exactly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlandtday Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 Why are they blanking out his eyes so he never gets caught? The guy is a criminal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Sujo Posted March 5, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted March 5, 2020 1 hour ago, worgeordie said: It also helps them when their victims are greedy and gullible. regards worgeordie A person is considered greedy because they buy a condo? 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Weird Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 23 minutes ago, tlandtday said: Why are they blanking out his eyes so he never gets caught? The guy is a criminal. What makes you think that showing his face clearly on Thaivisa would assist in his getting caught? Do you think that the police don't already know what he looks like and they're asking Thaivisa for help?! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Weird Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 2 hours ago, worgeordie said: It also helps them when their victims are greedy and gullible. What? Who was greedy? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlandtday Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 1 minute ago, Just Weird said: What makes you think that showing his face clearly on Thaivisa would assist in his getting caught? Do you think that the police don't already know what he looks like and they're asking Thaivisa for help?! Why are you so worried is it your pic lol. Of course they should show it as many cases are solved with the public's assistance. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post RichardColeman Posted March 5, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted March 5, 2020 Are they no solicitors involved in selling a house here ? Doing their checks and whatnot 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post NCC1701A Posted March 5, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted March 5, 2020 Liberty Group's people look like a casting call for mafia types for the next John Wick film. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post scubascuba3 Posted March 5, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted March 5, 2020 3 hours ago, NCC1701A said: Liberty Group's people look like a casting call for mafia types for the next John Wick film. bald heads? that's most of soi buakhao 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mywayboy Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 14 hours ago, worgeordie said: All the traits of a Con Man, except the trustworthy part, Who would have thought this kind of con could happen in Pattaya .???? regards worgeordie You can't stuff brains into Statues Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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