A Canadian national has been arrested in Bangkok on a Chiang Mai Provincial Court warrant pertaining to allegations that he defrauded Chiang Mai jobseekers.
Mr. Michael Roberge, 37, was advertising paying apprenticeships in the United States to university students and job seekers in Chiang Mai via a company called Work West (Thailand) Co. in return for a payment for placement.
When the victims paid the money in return for placement, Mr. Roberge would not return their calls.
In one case, a victim said that he had been promised a position at the Pittsburgh Marriott Hotel in the United States paying $14 per hour but once he had handed over 150,000 baht for placement, Roberge didn’t respond to messages and calls.
The number of victims defrauded is not clear but a thread on Pantip.com would suggest that the victims may be as many as a dozen if not more.
Mr. Roberge has been charged with offering employment to job seekers abroad without registration and obtaining money and property by fraud.
He’s expected to be transported to Chiang Mai shortly for a committal hearing.
