An Indian man suspected of being a member of a gang swindling money from Nepalese job seekers has been arrested at Suvarnabhumi airport in Sumut Prakan province.
Negi Surjeet, 42, wanted on a court warrant issued by Sa Kaeo provincial court on theft charges, was caught shortly after arriving at the international arrival terminal at 9.30pm on Friday, Pol Col Nitithorn Jintakanon, deputy commander of the Tourist Police Division said on Saturday.
The arrest came after three Nepalese nationals filed a complaint with officers at Sa Kaeo’s Khlong Luek police station that they had been deceived by an Indian man identified as Awatar or Jasbeer Singh via Facebook who promised to send them to work in the United States or Canada, said Pol Col Nitithorn.
The three job seekers had later been asked to meet Mr Awatar at Rong Kluea border market in Sa Kaeo, where the Indian man asked them to open bank accounts with ATM cards.
The victims, who wanted to work in Canada, were then asked to hand over their passbooks and ATM cards to the Indian man, who later used them to apply for mobile banking services. He subsequently returned the passbooks and ATM cards to the job seekers.
After that, each victim was asked to deposit 300,000 baht into his account. The Indian man claimed the money would pay work permit fees and other related expenses.
The victims later found out that their money had been withdrawn from the banks shortly after the money had been deposited and they have since been unable to contact the Indian man.
Police began the investigation and found that Mr Awatar and his Indian gang members had preyed on foreign job seekers using similar methods to steal the victims’ money from their bank accounts.
Warrants have been issued for the arrest of Mr Awatar and his accomplices, including Mr Negi Surjeet, who was also caught at the airport.
The 42-year-old suspect denied having any part in the theft but admitted he knew Mr Awatar.
But police said they had evidence to implicate him in the case and sent him to Khlong Luek police station for further legal action. Officers were hunting down other gang members.