The two owners of a seafood restaurant in Bangkok were today each sentenced to 1,446 years in prison by the Criminal Court, after they were found guilty of defrauding the public.

They were also ordered to repay about 2.5 million baht to their victims.

According to the charges, Apichart (Jome) Paronjullaka and Prapassorn Bovornbancha, co-owners of Laemgate seafood restaurant, launched an online sales promotion, offering customers unusually cheap prices for seafood buffets at the restaurant, such as a ten-seat buffet set for 880 baht, a 20-seat buffet set for 2,020 baht and 3,000 baht for a 30-seat buffet set.

As many as 20,000 customers have bought food vouchers or E-coupons from the couple, worth about 50 million baht, since early last year.

Initially, customers were satisfied with the services but, because of the long waiting list, it took several months of advance bookings before customers could actually eat there.

In March last year, the restaurant announced its closure, claiming that it could not get hold of enough fresh seafood to meet the demand, and offered to refund customers who have bought the coupons or vouchers, which became worthless.

Many customers then lodged complaints with the Consumer Protection Police Division against the couple.