Woman arrested for fake plate scam
>> Police have arrested a woman in connection with a fake vehicle licence plate network in Lop Buri province.
Piyaporn Plaisanthia, 35, of Nakhon Ratchasima, was taken to a police press briefing at the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB) yesterday.
She was detained on Friday at a garage which provided repair services and assembly for vehicles in tambon Khao Sam Yod in Muang district.
According to MPB chief Sanit Mahathavorn, the arrest was conducted under a search warrant issued by the Lop Buri Provincial Court the day after authorities traced several vehicles embroiled in illegal activities back to the garage.
Authorities also confiscated four Minis, one carrying an Uttaradit licence plate, the two others with Bangkok plates and one without a plate, a Honda motorcycle bearing a Lop Buri plate and a Mini Cooper with no plate.
No vehicles had serial numbers on their chassis.
Officials also found paraphernalia used in producing fake licence plates and documents of other vehicles in the garage. The Land Transport Department’s emblem was found on those papers.
Pol Lt Gen Sanit said the vehicles are each worth up to one million baht after paying taxes while counterfeit licence plates and other documents can be bought for about 20,000 baht.
Police suspected the vehicles were assembled as details obtained from documents found at the scene did not match any vehicles in the Royal Thai Police’s database.
Pol Lt Gen Sanit said there has been no registration for assembled vehicles for several years, warning people to run a check on second-hand vehicles before buying them. A check for serial numbers on the chassis, which could be doctored easily, was essential, he said.
Buyers can check whether serial numbers of vehicles were authentic by checking their registration papers. They could be fake if vendors claimed the papers were reissued as previous owners lost the old ones, he added.
Police said Ms Piyaporn has operated the garage for more than 10 years. Besides vehicle repair and assembly services, the outlet also purchased and sold used auto parts
The shop was owned by her husband, Amnuay Maneepong, 48, who remains at large.
A probe found he allegedly procured licence plates of worn-out vehicles for clients’ vehicles and adjusted classic vehicles with fake licence plates to evade taxes.
The couple have been charged with forging and using fake documents.