Two French boxers who took part in many bouts in the popular <i>Thai Fight</i> show have been arrested on charges of using fake electronic cards to steal at least 300,000 baht from local ATMs.
Jawad Naci, 32, and Hicham Hachem, 34, were arrested on Friday morning in front of the Salaya campus in Phutthamonthon district of Nakhon Pathom. Officers seized 15 cloned electronic cards and 10,000 baht in cash.
Pol Col Suthin Nuipin, chief of Division 8 of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, said the arrests followed a tip-off from Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) that there had been unusually heavy use of foreign cards to withdraw money from some of the bank's ATMs.
The bank reported the suspicious activity at locations in Bangkok including Ramkhamhaeng University, Lat Phrao, Bang Kapi, Silom, Soi Ari and Saphan Khwai.
Police began looking into the case, which led them to the Salaya campus of Mahidol University where they found the pair trying to withdraw money from an ATM.
Pol Col Suthin said the 15 cards seized from the suspects bore the names of account holders in France whose data had been scanned and transferred to fake electronic cards.
He said the suspects admitted they had bought the counterfeit cards from an entertainment venue in Phuket for 30,000 baht each.
Further investigation revealed that Mr Naci had been arrested in Phuket on March 15 this year on charges of using fake cards but he later jumped bail.
Police said the two suspects had withdrawn 300,000 baht from SCB machines. Officers are still looking into damage from other banks' ATMs. Most of the damaged parties who are cardholders live in France.
The two suspects are boxers at a boxing camp in Phuket. They had taken part in several televised Thai Fight bouts. Naci participated in 70 bouts, of which he won 55, while Hachem took part in 90 bouts.
The suspects have been charged with using fake electronic cards. Under Thai law, a person convicted of using fake electronic cards to steal money from an ATM is liable to a jail term of 2-7 years and/or a fine of between 20,000 and 240,000 baht for each illegal use of a card.
The suspects were handed over to the Electronic Crime Suppression Division for further action.