Thai celebrity chef arrested for alleged B2m fraud

A Thai celebrity chef who owns a popular noodle shop franchise has been arrested for alleged fraud in the sale of gold and diamond jewellery worth about 2 million baht. 
The suspect was identified as Yuwadee Chaisiripanich, 54, but is also known as Chef Aoi.
She was arrested in Bangkok while selling her food at a booth in a shopping mall on Srinakarin road in Prawet district, police said on Tuesday. 
Her arrest followed a complaint to cybercrime police at Bang Bon station. The complainant’s name was not revealed. 
The victim claimed to be a fan of Chef Aoi and had contacted her to inquire about buying into her franchise for a restaurant. After talking for a while, they became close, the complainant said.
The victim allegedly told Chef Aoi they would need to sell their gold and diamond jewellery and amulets, worth about 2 million baht in all, to raise the money for the franchise.
Chef Aoi had offered to broker the sale. The victim trusted her because she was a famous chef who had appeared on Top Chef and Iron Chef in Thailand.
Several months later, the victim found out the chef had used those  valuables to keep her own food business running, police were told. 
According to police, Chef Aoi admitted to the offence. She said she did sell the jewellery, to a TV producer, but had not yet received the money. She had initially given the victim 500,000 baht from her own pocket, she said. 
She did not have the money to pay the victim because her business had suffered financially since an interview about a dispute with a former franchisee was aired on the talk show “Hone Krasae”, and gained much social media attention.
Chef Aoi told police she had no intention to flee, and had been trying to find the money to pay the complainant. 
Police said their investigation was continuing.