Srisuwan Janya, secretary-general of the Constitution Protection Organisation, and Wijitra Jongthan, deputy chairwoman of the Phetchabun Crops Association, led 10 people to file a complaint with the CSD against the chairman of the Crayfish Federation of Thailand.

Srisuwan said the chairman of the federation had academics hold seminars to dupe 2,000 people into wasting their money.

He said the alleged fraud had been taking place since November.

People were asked to pay Bt15,000 each to become members of the federation and given pairs of crayfish to raise with the promise the federation would buy the offspring when they matured for between Bt400 to Bt700 per kilogram depending on their size.

The federation also established networks at the district and provincial levels. District and provincial network chiefs had to pay B30,000 and Bt50,000 respectively and they were supposed to get 10 per cent of the membership fees of members they recruited.

Srisuwan said members had raised crayfish for four months but the federation only bought the progeny two times before falling silent, while the purchased animals were then used to lure more people into the scheme.

He added that the federation had not registered with the Commerce Ministry.

CSD officers said they would receive more complaints from people around the country to compile a report for the CSD commander to decide whether to accept the case for investigation.