Police have secured arrest warrants for two more people suspected of involvement in embezzling 1.66 billion baht from King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL).
The suspects, Chanchira Sopradit, 27, and Somphong Sahapornudomkarn, 57, fell under suspicion after investigators found some of the missing money had been transferred to their bank accounts, deputy Crime Suppression Division chief Pol Col Nos Sawetlek said yesterday.
An examination of Ms Chanchira's account with Krungthai Bank's Chaeng Watthana branch revealed she received 46 million baht while another suspicious transfer amounting to 44 million baht was made to Mr Somphong's Krungthai Bank account in Ban Phaeo district.
The pair are suspected of opening the accounts to "wait" for the money before allegedly transferring the cash on to bank accounts of other people, Pol Col Nos said.
Investigators say they know the identities of other people in the alleged network and will ask the court to grant more warrants within two or three days, he said. An initial investigation found the embezzled money had been used to buy a number of properties and other assets.
The embezzlement scam came to light after the KMITL filed a complaint with the Crime Suppression Division on Dec 16 against Songklod Sriprasong, 40, former manager of Bank of Ayudhya's Big C Srinakarin branch, and Amporn Noisamrit, 56, head of the KMITL's financial division. The university said it had found financial irregularities and asked police to investigate.
The complaint accused both of being responsible for the disappearance of the technology institute's money between 2012 and 2014.
They are also suspected of falsifying documents to carry out the alleged plot.
After investigators dug deeper into the case, they secured arrest warrants for four more suspects. They are master's degree student Poonsak Boonsawat; Jariwat Sahapornudomkarn, Mr Somphong's son; Sombat Sopradit, Ms Chanchira's mother; and Kittisak Muttujad.
Mr Songklod, Ms Amporn, Mr Poonsak and Mr Jariwat are currently being detained, while police are still hunting for the others.