Potential Thai restaurant owner was scammed and robbed, police say

Court documents show that a woman moved from Thailand to the Triangle last year and paid more than $60,000 to the owners of a popular North Raleigh restaurant to become majority owner.

But in search warrant applications made public Thursday, police say they think that the owners of the Sawasdee Thai Restaurant on Capital Boulevard did not give the woman, Pitchayapak Jirapatthanayong, any documentation for the business agreement and instead took away passports belonging to the victim and her daughter. Police also think the restaurant owners forced the teen to work at the eatery without pay.

Investigators this month charged one of the restaurant owners, Sutheera Sriphetcharawut, 35, of Raleigh, with one felony count each of common law robbery, identity theft and obtaining property by false pretenses, documents show.

Part of the ongoing investigation includes a search for evidence that Jirapatthanayong and her daughter were victims of involuntary servitude, according to court records.

Police started their investigation of Sriphetcharawut and her husband, Kamonwat, on June 9, after Jirapatthanayong reported a strong-arm robbery at 3116 McAdams Drive, court records show.

Jirapatthanayong told police that she had moved to Raleigh about a year ago after being in contact with Sutheera Sriphetcharawut. Jirapatthanayong said she and the restaurant owner entered into an agreement that would enable her to purchase 51 percent of the restaurant for about $60,000, court records show.

Investigators found records from Wells Fargo that showed that Jirapatthanayong, on June 20 of last year, wrote a check for $30,598.86 to Maximax, a limited liability corporation that owns Sawasdee Thai Restaurant, at 3601 Capital Blvd. North Carolina Secretary of State records lists Sutheera Sriphetcharawut as one of the company officials.

Less than a month later, on Aug. 4, Jirapatthanayong wrote another check to Maximax for $30,130.76, court records show.

“Sutheera and Kamonwat advised Pitchayapak that she was now 51 percent owner of the restaurant,” Raleigh Detective B. Huger stated in a series of search warrant applications.

But the restaurant owners did not provide Jirapatthanayong with any documentation verifying ownership. She worked at the restaurant 10 hours a day, seven days a week and her yearly earnings at the end of April were less than $10,000, court records show.

The home on McAdams Drive where Jirapatthanayong lived is owned by the Sriphetcharawuts. Jirapatthanayong’s teenage daughter arrived from her homeland in mid-April to live with her.

On May 20, the woman told police that the restaurant owners and two men arrived at the home on McAdams Drive and demanded that she hand over passports that belonged to her and her daughter.

“The demand was made so Pitchayapak and Panthita did not try to stop working at the restaurant and leave the area,” Huger stated in the court affidavits.

During that confrontation, the men grabbed Jirapatthanayong by the hair and threw her to the floor. The teen also was told to start showing up at the restaurant to wash dishes without pay, court records show.

Jirapatthanayong continued to work at the restaurant for several days before fleeing to a friend’s home in Virginia.

On June 8, one day before the police launched their investigation, Jirapatthanayong sent Kamonwat Sriphetcharawut a text message demanding he return her passports. The restaurant owner responded by telling Jirapatthanayong that she owed $250 for utilities and phone service at the home, court records show.

Police searched the Sawasdee restaurant and found the mother and daughter’s passports.

The search warrants and arrest warrants indicated that the owners of the Sawasdee Thai restaurant on Glenwood Avenue in Raleigh and Columbia Street in Chapel Hill were not part of the police investigation or charged with any crimes.

This story was originally published June 30, 2016 at 7:41 PM with the headline "Potential Thai restaurant owner was scammed and robbed, police say."