A black magic conman from Pathum Thani has been jailed for20 years for fraud, sexual abuse and illegal possession of firearms.
Thanawas Assawaponsuwan, better known as Ajarn Karawage, was sentenced by the Criminal Court along with his wife Juthathip and three female accomplices.
The court found the five offenders guilty of deceiving their victims into believing they could perform black magic rituals to boost their sexual charm, colluding swindle them out of money and illegal possession of weapons and ammunition.
Prosecutors filed charges against the five Thanawas, Juthathip, Sumitra Naruebodin, Satiyaporn Cheo-Asa and Trisukon Sawaddeesom on June 4 last year.
The court sentenced Thanawas to 22 years and eight months in jail in total 21 years for fraud, one year for having a gun with no licence and eight months for illegally having a firearm in his possession.
However, Thanawas will only receivethe the maximum jail term of 20 years, the court said.
The crimes took place between June 2010 and March 14 last year when Thanawas' seven victims accused him of posting an advert on a website called"akaravak enticing people to attend a black magic ritual at a house in Pathum Thani's Nong Sua district.
On the website, Thanawas claimed he had black magic powers that could bring back women's estranged lovers. The victims said theywent to Thanawas' house to seek his help and Juthathip and Sumitra gave advice about a ritual.
They said the conman asked them to take off their clothes, asked his three female accomplices to apply a potion to their bodies and then sexually abused them before the ritual began.
The court sentenced Juthathip to four years and eight months in prison. It handed down a 21-year jail term to Sumitra, but she will serve only 20 years. Satiyaporn and Trisukon received one-year jail terms.