EXCLUSIVE: FAKE FOREIGN LAWYERS TRY TO CASH IN ON SHINAWATRA’S FROZEN BILLIONS

BUT THEY BLEW IT ALL IN A PATTAYA ‘SHORT-TIME’ BAR
A STORY OF LOW LIFE SCAMMERS IN SLEAZY BARS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA’S TWILIGHT WORLD 

Thaksin in exile in Weybridge, Surrey, before he had to move on to Dubai

Two Scots and one American posing as lawyers in Thailand have been uncovered attempting a scam involving the frozen billions of ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Together with a third man, who acted as a ‘go between’, they promised Bill Monson, the President of Clearview Television, who was a former partner of Shinawatra in cable television, paging and mobile phone services, they could get back the millions due to him in a business deal that went badly wrong.

Monson, from Seattle, lost his fortune after going into business with Shinawatra. Meanwhile the controversial former Prime Minister made his fortune and went on to become one of the most powerful men in Asia.

Bill Monson

For over thirty years Mr. Monson has been fighting his corner hoping to get his fortune back. He has yet to be successful.

Thaksin Shinawatra had denied his claims, saying he was Monson’s boss.

But the con men, who first outlined their proposals at a meeting at One Stop Service Center – in Pattaya, promised they could get Monson’s cash back from the £1 billion the Supreme Court ordered to be frozen in February 2010.

All they wanted was a few million dollars for themselves.

But three out of the four of them were on bail from Pattaya Provincial Court for various offences when the scam was attempted. And the fixer was a drifter prowling internet dating sites.

Those involved in the scam it is alleged were Brian Goudie, aka Goldie, 47, from Falkirk, Scotland, Drew Walter Noyes, 59, from Irvine, California, David John Hanks,66, from Girvan, Ayrshire, and the fixer was Jerry Weinerth, from Hawaii.

Goudie who called himself Jim Macdonald or ‘Mac’
identified by Mike Mitchell (right)

Fortunately for him Drew Walter Noyes was however ditched from the scheme after Monson’s adviser told the others: “We’re not dealing with that prick”.

That left Mr. Monson and his associate Michael Mitchell to deal with Weinerth, Hanks and Goudie. Hanks and Goudie recently lodged a case against Google at Bangkok Criminal Court demanding stories about them be erased from the internet under the European ‘Right to be Forgotten’ ruling.

All deals were called off last week after Bill Monson, from Seattle, refused to attend a meeting without a witness present.  But he had already been warned that a probable sting was going down.

The group had demanded a payment of US$7 million of 5 per cent of whatever Monson would win They requested he sign over a Power of Attorney to act on his behalf.

The last person who signed over a POA to Brian Goudie was former Ulster drugs trafficker Jimmy ‘Doc’ Halliday to raise cash for his hospital bills.  Jimmy Halliday had been released from prison to be treated in hospital in Pattaya for the flesh eating disease ‘necrotising fasciitis’.  But he died and Goudie used the POA to seize all his properties.

Brian Goudie was exposed by the Sunday Mail as a fake lawyer who was cheating customers with his expensive barristers’ fees.

He is currently on trial in Pattaya charged with posing as a barrister to cheat a 76-year-old woman from Madison, Wisconsin out of 7.9 million Thai baht (£146,000) to defend her son on child sex abuse charges.  Her son was subsequently jailed for 38 years but a mistrial has now been ordered.

Goudie did not sue the Sunday Mail but he sued the journalist Andrew Drummond in Thailand and subsequently lost.

David Hanks identified by Mike Mitchell

David John Hanks, is the former owner and licence holder of Masquerades Brothel in Keysborough, Victoria, Australia. He is currently on bail in Thailand charged with racketeering. It is alleged he made loans to Russians demanding 60 per cent interest per month.

According to a report by Thailand’s Department of Special Investigations Russians, who did not pay up, were beaten up. Three other Russian were arrested at the same time.

Drew Noyes – identified by Mike Mitchell

Drew Walter Noyes, is currently on trial in Pattaya for extortion.

It is alleged that together with his Thai common-law-wife he demanded first 7 million baht, later reduced to 2.3 million baht (£42,000) from Australian Michel Goulet to stop a police raid on the premises of Thonglor Beauty Clinic in Pattaya, where illegal substances would be found. Goulet would also receive bad publicity in Noyes’ newspaper the Pattaya Times (now closed).

Noyes had claimed he had contacts with the police which would make this happen.

Finally Jerry Weinerth, identified by Mike Mitchell

Jerry Weinerth,  the go-between, used to work out of the offices of the Pattaya Times. He is a former newspaper ad salesman. He came to Thailand after his house in Hawaii burned down. He calls himself the American  ‘Go To Guy’.

THE ANATOMY OF A STING

Bill Monson had been trying for years to get justice is the Thai courts but with Thaksin as Prime Minister although he won cases nothing actually came his way.

Offices of PAPPA and One Stop Service Center (sic)

A successful American media mogul he had arrived in Thailand to help set up cable television, pager and mobile phone services, and he was told that Thaksin, a former policeman, who was then making money selling IT products to police, was the man to deal with.  Thaksin ended up taking over all his operations, even at one time ordering Monson’s arrest.

Two years ago a close friend of Monson, Mike Mitchell, himself a successful American businessman met Jerry Weinerth on a flight from Narita in Tokyo to Bangkok.
He told Weinerth about Monson’s problems and Weinerth convinced him to attend a meeting in Pattaya at the PAPPA.One Stop Service Center offices of Drew Noyes in Thepprasit Road, Pattaya.

David Hanks and Jerry Weinerth at Pattaya Provincial Court where they acted as bodyguards for Drew Noyes who
is charged with attempting to extort the bosses of the Thonglor Clinic in Jomtien

It was in these offices that Mitchell said he met Drew Noyes, David Hanks and Brian Goudie, aka Goldie, who was then calling himself ‘Jim Macdonald’.

Goudie posing as Jim Macdonald (Goudie was born in 1967) ‘Four brains better then one’. In this case probably not.
His legal team at the time was a team of one Supanya Worakam who has never worked at the bar – well not the legal kind

“Drew Noyes promised the world. He said he was a lawyer and knew everyone in Thailand that mattered, he said. He could get any foreigners arrested in Pattaya whenever he wanted.  

“I realized very quickly that Drew Noyes was full of sh@t’, said Mitchell. 

Thaksin

“I knew that before doing any research.  Then I did my reasearch. I was guided to if by Drew Noyes telling me he was dealing with a rogue journalist whom he would soon put in jail. So after a few days I told the others I did not want anything to do with Drew Noyes and would advise Bill accordingly.”

‘Get rid of the jerk’

The other three however wanted to keep the door open to negotiate with Monson and act as his lawyers.

“They agreed. They said they thought Drew Noyes was a jerk and a prick too, but the deal could still go ahead without him,” said Mr. Mitchell.

Worthy but meaningless. Goudie seeks the frozen ’30 million’ claiming a first year law student could do better
than Monson’s lawyers.  Goudie never even completed one day at law school.

They met again with Mike Mitchell this year just as the World Cup was playing off in Brazil.  And they almost got Bill Monson hooked.

Goudie seeks POA

Said Mitchell: “The man ‘Mac’ whom I now know as Goudie had a very convincing manner. He said he had done some research and found that Bill had been badly advised by his previous lawyers who were cheating him.  He said he could bring cases against Thaksin for the recovery of equipment and then after that more and more cases. There was no statute of limitations on these cases as Bill had been advised.  He sent me emails outlining his position.

“I had to say, yes, Mac was very convincing. And I reported back to Bill who asked me to look at it further.  But the more I looked the worse these guys appeared.  

“They could not stop talking about themselves.  Mac/Goudie had told how he had seen Thaksin in Dubai and Thaksin had sent a Bentley to pick him up at the airport. Thaksin, he said, was remorseful and might even settle with Bill personally.

“Looking back I do not know why I listened to all this cr@p.  They kept trying to get me to persuade Bill to sign a POA. 

“Meanwhile David Hanks, who also said he was a lawyer, started talking about his brothel. He said: ‘Look. You are going to hear bad things about me but it’s all rubbish.’

Drummond

“I thought, what the hell is going on with this guy. Why is he telling me this?  He also said he knew all the main characters in an Australian television documentary series called ‘Underbelly’.  

“He regaled me with underworld stories of how the villains in Australia froze their victims’ bodies, because then they were easier to cut up with a saw. It was all over the top stuff.

‘Then to cap it all they rang me up and said they wanted to take me out for a drink. And they took me to Pattaya Soi 6. A street of bars with low rent prostitutes charging thirty bucks for sex in an upstairs room.  It was all gross.



“But even these girls were too expensive for Jerry. He said he got all his ‘one night stands’ from dating sites. That way he did not have to pay any fees. 



“I thought about Bill who is a strict church going Christian and what he would think of these people.




“Then Mac also said that I might hear bad things about him and see his photograph.   
But they were all written by a bad journalist and he was suing the pants off the journalist. But by then I had read it all and knew which side I believed and was determined to sort these guys out.” 




At this stage Mike Mitchell started recording all his skype calls and contacted journalist Andrew Drummond (owner of this site) in Bangkok and a meeting was arranged with Bill Monson, who agreed to play the phony lawyers along for a little longer.

Said Bill Monson: “Last week our conversations were terminated. I had agreed to a meeting if I could bring along a witness. Weinerth refused.  I have better things to do than to talk to these people.”


 He said he had known for quite a while what sort of people these were and would be raising the matter with officials of the ruling military government and would  support Andrew Drummond in Bangkok.

A Wikileaks cable from former US Ambassador Ralph L Boyce

26 thoughts on “EXCLUSIVE: FAKE FOREIGN LAWYERS TRY TO CASH IN ON SHINAWATRA’S FROZEN BILLIONS

  1. So….will the authorities act on this or yet again will this just be brushed aside and the three fraudsters continue to take the p**s and stick 2 fingers up to the Thai legal system?
    I know where Id hedge my bets.

  2. Sounds like big mouth Hanks red-lighted them all with his chronic bullshitting. He must of met a guy I know who now lives in Thailand, he used to be a butcher. He's always telling people if your want to chop up a dead body to freeze it first. Not that he's ever done it. Just another fantasy story.

    Hank's is just talking his usual crap and trying to big note himself when he was just a two bob pimp. Most of the killings in 'underbelly' were just straight out ambushes with people sneaking up and shooting the victim in the street outside their house as they arrived home. I think it's clear he has never met any of these people except in his own little fantasy world.

    It's amazing this little attempt at an earn got as far as it did. Bill needs to remember the old biblical phrase- none as blind as the righteous. Decent people naturally project their own nature onto others. So if you are decent and honest you expect and trust others to be the same. These scumbags prey on that weakness.

  3. Unless one can get evidence that these shysters were offering services for which they were unqualified to give and that the purpose was to defraud the mark then I should imagine the police will remain quite indifferent. Confidence tricks are all about flummery and the mark being led to making his own assumptions. Until money changes hands and the evidence is nailed down there's not a lot can be done. Remember, serious crimes occur daily here but seldom see justice. These shysters are a pain and an irritant but in picking Thailand they have found a nice bolt hole. Vietnam and the Philippines are similar environments but given their penchant for Thai women and the lowlife company in Pattaya I guess they're here to stay.

  4. Sounds like amateur hour down in pattaya… Phony gangster stories, 'businesses drinks' in a soi 6 bar, Noise and his laughable claims… Another caper ends in farce…if these guys had brains they could be dangerous

  5. Once again, I'm in awe of the sheer audacity of those scumbags.

    I share the same sentiment as Ally….at what point does the Thai police get involved? I hope Mr. Mitchell visits the DSI sooner rather than later with this. After all, a foreign gang is openly operating in Thailand, posing as lawyers to cheat people out of money. Action should be taken by Thai law enforcement.

  6. As a villain Brian Goudie is the Mr Bean of crime. Starting from him stealing from the bank he has been a spectacular failure in his attempts to enrich himself. Fled Scotland, banged up in Perth and if we look at his scams in Thailand they are pathetic.

    Scams a dying man, robs an elderly vulnerable woman and tries to frame Thai girls who are silly enough to get involved with him. He cannot hold a relationship together, even bar girls see him as a reject. The guy is a total flake.

    Yet compared to the other 2 idiots he seems like a criminal mastermind. Hanks behaves like some criminal groupie lap dog wannabe. A pimp ranks alongside a drug dealer and child molester on the scumbag scale. Yet he cannot seem to stop himself from telling everybody he ran a brothel. Somebody needs to tell it is not something to boast about.

    Noyes has again openly admitted he is a rat informer claiming he can get anybody jailed. How anybody can fall for his bullshit is almost beyond belief. All three of them are just a joke.

  7. It appears from the photo of Hanks and Wiener that they share a diet and that terrible hair dye.
    Goldie is not suing this site for being called a conman or the like. He is suing over photoshopped pictures that are insinuating he is gay. He was sentenced to a 6 year sentence in an Australian jail when he was much younger and much prettier than he is now.
    There are no women in jail. Rape can be a daily occurrence for the weak and chicken hearted. In prison the actual rapists do not consider themselves as gay. But the men who are raped are called gays and faggots and looked down upon.Sometimes they are anally gang raped by many and perform oral sex on a myriad of other prisoners.
    Western Australian prisons are filled with many Aboriginal prisoners they like to think of themselves as powerful lovers with amazing stamina and are well hung. Often if a new inmate is considered pretty enough an alpha male prisoner will "own" the new prisoner and protect him from being anally pack raped by large groups of deprived men. The 'faggot' as he is called will be expected to clean his bosses cell, provide sexual services and even sometime s be told to wear make up and a wig. Not a lawyers wig, a woman's wig.
    A must watch for those trying to understand a tortured mind.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWo7_RHdb_Q

  8. I'm not sure its necessary for anyone to prosecute these clowns for this caper – Consider this:

    They have exposed themselves as assisting a man who is in legal conflict with arguably the most powerful and vindictive person in Thai politics/business.

    How was it Mac put it

    “So, the only purpose of this action would be to bring pressure upon Dr. Thaksin and Khunying Potjaman (and any other defendants) to come to an amicable settlement”

    Who know's who will get to read this report?

    The settlement might indeed be very amicable to those of us who want to see Thailand rid of these scrouts.

  9. Heads up!

    I've been banned from pattaya-addicts.com for linking to this site. Or that is the apparent reason.

    Same same thaivisa.com.

    Appropriate Canadian authorities will be notified.

    1. One of pattaya addicts owners(Bryan) did once post in Drews defence, thought drew as being picked on, and I do remember he said he felt he was treated unfairly by this site over some story.

      However, that was the one forum where there were plenty of links this site and disparaging comments on the three stooges. One thread was deleted last week after I posted a link to it here, Hi Drew! The standard Noise threats of litigation where probably what caused the links to be deleted. The owners are probably very weary of being dragged into court to and discuss the nature of the forum rather than any belief in Drews innocence.

    2. In reply to Martin Pappier – I have had a reply from Jack to say that he has not been banned from Pattaya addicts and that he is a troll. The rest of the message was impolite to it has been cut. On the contrary I understand Pattaya addicts often links to this site.

  10. I have a lot of respect for what the NCPO has done so far, so I suspect they are building cases against Hanks, Noyes and Gouldie/Goldie.

    That takes time.

    If the NCPO is is serious about cleaning up Thailand's image, these 3 will fall and fall hard.

    If these 3 continue to operate in a crinial manner, then we know where we stand with the NCPO.

    1. They have bigger fish to fry than than the three stooges so I'd be surprised if any national level officials took an interest. That said, they do seem interested in at least appearing to tackle corruption with recent 'crackdowns' and replacement of key officials in Pattaya…time will tell..

  11. And these idiots pretending to be men of substance still continue to use free email services like gmail/hotmail etc.. Thats enough to put anyone with half a braincell off!

  12. Would you conduct a multi million £ fraud down Hull fish docks……er no….so why on earth in the second seediest place on the planet (after Hull docks)……..because the now Gang of Four aren't very bright……now I know the world is a little safer…..I think these losers should be given their own comedy club

  13. I remember the cases, I used to know an associate of Bill's that, along with a certain well known foreign company in the telecoms industry, was cheated by Taksin in the telecoms field out of a substantial investment. That is Thailand.

    That anyone would trust the Gang to deliver what the top Bangkok law firms could not is just beyond me. But it is incredible that the "lead lawyer" is now hiding behind a nom de plume, his real name must be too hot to use.

  14. It only needs a "deed of change of name".

    I ran one up in a few minutes to change a friend's name for her passport application. The Passport Agency do not look too closely at these things so a few mistakes on the document will not invalidate it.

    I suggested it should be signed in front of a solicitor who could witness the signature and existing passport details as being original. This is not vital but I have a solicitor who pockets a fiver for each page so a tenner and it looks official.

    You don't need to register it in UK and as long as it is signed in presence of a witness, it carries sufficient legal authority to be recognised. It does not change the name on a birth certificate so when applying for the new passport both the birth certificate and the deed should be used as documents of identity

    Note this is not about obtaining a fake passport, they have it registered against your birth name in the computer, and so is legal and above board and will only take a few hours.

  15. I have it from a reliable source that a link to this article has been forwarded to several known associates and the Facebook account of a man in Dubai.

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