Actress and model Rybena “Nana” Intachai was arrested at her home in Bangkok’s Watthana district on Wednesday morning following allegations of large-scale fraudulent borrowing. Officers from the Economic Crime Suppression Division (ECSD) arrived at the 44-year-old entertainer’s residence to take her into custody after a court approved an arrest warrant the previous day.
Nana was transported to the ECSD headquarters for formal charge acknowledgment and questioning. As she entered the building, she remained silent and did not respond to questions from reporters gathered outside.
According to Pol Maj Gen Tasapoom Jaruprat, commander of the ECSD, complaints began surfacing in the middle of last month when several of Nana’s close acquaintances reported that she had borrowed substantial sums under false pretenses. In total, 17 complainants accused her of borrowing approximately 195 million baht.
Investigators reviewed her financial activity and concluded that the transactions met the criteria for alleged asset fraud and borrowing-related public fraud. Based on their findings, police requested an arrest warrant on Tuesday afternoon. Along with her arrest, officers seized assets worth about 10 million baht for further examination, including vehicles, luxury bags, watches, ornaments and art toys.
The ECSD commander said the complaints indicated that, since September 2022, Nana had persuaded individuals to invest in a range of supposed business ventures. These included lending schemes promising monthly returns of 4–7%, stock trading, the development of basketball facilities, and overseas restaurant projects. One of the complainants was fellow actress Janie Tienphosuwan, also 44, who alleged that Nana encouraged her to invest in a restaurant project in the United States that ultimately did not exist. Janie reportedly lost 3 million baht in the process.
Nana’s lawyer, Saiyud Pengboonchu, said he had prepared assets worth 500,000 baht to request her temporary release on bail. He added that Nana was deeply concerned about her family and the legal proceedings, noting that she had never previously been prosecuted. Saiyud also stated that he did not yet know the full extent of Nana’s creditors or whether additional celebrities were among them.
He clarified that he had accompanied Nana to the Central Investigation Bureau on Monday in an attempt to arrange a voluntary surrender. However, authorities declined to accept the surrender at that time because she had not yet been formally identified as a suspect. Later that evening, her lawyer returned to propose her surrender again, but police opted to pursue an arrest warrant immediately due to the seriousness of the charges.
At this stage, Nana has denied all allegations. She told investigators that she had not realized her borrowing activities were illegal and expressed confidence that she would be able to repay her creditors.
Last month, Nana posted a video acknowledging that she had solicited investments under questionable circumstances. She admitted to borrowing money from multiple individuals and failing to deliver promised interest payments. However, she insisted that her financial troubles resulted from business failures, not illegal activities or gambling.
Nana is married to Prinya “Way” Intachai, a member of the well-known Thai hip-hop group Thaitanium.
