Police seek court’s arrest warrants against call centre gang members

>> Police have asked the court to issue arrests warrants f or more than 100 people who have profited from opening bank accounts for a call centre gang, said deputy Tourist Police Bureau chief Surachet Hakphal.

Pol Maj Gen Surachet said the police will also launch a joint operation with legal authorities in a neighbouring country — presumably Malaysia — to crack down on cross-border call centre gangs.

Over the next two weeks, the police will seek arrest warrants for those who duped victims into depositing money into the gang’s bank accounts over the phone.

The people facing warrants are mostly based in Bangkok, alongside other big cities like Khon Kaen, Nakhon Ratchasima and Songkhla.

They were hired by the leader of the gang, a Taiwanese national.

All bank accounts have been closed since the police’s discovery, but the offenders must still be brought to justice, said Pol Maj Gen Surachet.

Yesterday, Pol Maj Gen Surachet questioned five suspects who were allegedly paid to open bank accounts under a call centre gang led by a man named Chonchana Petdee. The gang is believed to have members in Malaysia.

One of the suspects arrested by the Din Daeng police in Bangkok was identified as Thanathip Sutharatwilas.

Police also interviewed two Malaysian men, Laika Chun and Liwo Hung, who were recently arrested in Phetchaburi in connection with the Chonchana gang.

The five suspects said they opened the accounts in exchange for a 4% cut each from the scam money. After the money was wired to their accounts by the victims, it was withdrawn by the two Malaysian men who would later deposit the cash in their accounts. The money would then be taken out by the gang members in Malaysia.