Police have arrested the daughter of a former Phetchaburi MP who they claim faked her death in the tsunami four years ago and then underwent facial surgery and assumed a new identity to evade her creditors.
They had lent her and her husband more than 8 billion baht.
The woman who supposedly died in the tsunami, and the same woman today.
Crime Suppression Division police yesterday arrested Kankanit Angkinant, 48, daughter of Piya Angkinant, near a U-turn on Narathiwat Ratchanakharin road in Sathon.
Mrs Kankanit is also known as Panjit.
She was believed to have been killed in the Dec 26, 2004 tsunami that hit six southern provinces on the Andaman coast until police discovered evidence that proved she was still alive.
Her husband Charnchai Chinsiri, 47, was also arrested at their house on Nang Linchi road in Yannawa district.
The couple were wanted on warrants over fraud charges laid in Samut Sakhon on June 8, 2005. They denied the charges.
CSD chief Pongpat Chayaphan said Mrs Kankanit was believed to have been killed in the tsunami until Permkiat Phothianthong, a representative of Choke Chai Mahachai Co, one of Mrs Kankanit's creditors, asked police to re-investigate her death.
Pol Maj-Gen Pongpat said the company suspected Mrs Kankanit had faked her death.
He said the company believed that with her "death" she could escape the legal cases and huge debts against her.
The couple had run a company dealing in oil called Parnsap Evergreen Co.
However, the business was not a success and the couple found themselves deep in debt.
They were finally declared bankrupt by the Civil Court in 2004, Pol Maj-Gen Pongpat said.
They faced 63 lawsuits brought against them and owed more than 8.2 billion baht.
Their major creditors included PTT Plc to which more than 5 billion baht was owed, TMB Bank (over 800 million baht), Thai Asset Management Corp (over 500 million baht) and Phayathai Asset Management Co (over 200 million baht).
Pol Maj-Gen Pongpat said after the tsunami tragedy, Mr Charnchai notified police in Ranong's Muang district that Mrs Kankanit's body had been found in the sea off Ko Phayam. Her identity card and credit card were discovered on the body.
When the death was reported to officials, a death certificate was issued to confirm she had died.
Mr Charnchai then took the body that he claimed to be that of Mrs Kankanit to Wat Suwankhiriviharn in Phuket where funeral rites were held. The body was cremated on Jan 4, 2005.
Later, her children received payouts from Thai Life Insurance Co worth 900,000 baht and from American International Assurance Co amounting to 1.2 million baht.
Pol Maj-Gen Pongpat said investigators later found evidence to prove Mrs Kankanit was still alive.
It included an attempt to get a new ID card.
A woman claiming to be Phayao Panwang tried to apply for a new ID card at the Bang Kruai municipality office in Nonthaburi in June 2005. She said the old one was lost. Bang Kruai officials rejected the request because her fingerprints did not match that of Ms Phayao.
She later successfully received the ID card under the name of Ms Phayao when she went to the municipal office in Suphan Buri.
Forensic experts were then asked to check the fingerprints. That led them to believe Ms Phayao and Mrs Kankanit were one and the same as the fingerprints matched those of Mrs Kankanit, who was pronounced dead in Dec 2007.
Pol Maj-Gen Pongpat alleged Mrs Kankanit had facial surgery so that people would not recognise her.
Police then began looking for the couple.
Mrs Kankanit and Mr Charnchai changed houses often, Pol Maj-Gen Pongpat said.
Pol Col Kittisak Sukwattanakul, chief of CSD Division 5, who headed the investigation team, said inquiries found Mrs Kankanit had facial surgery in China and used fake ID cards under five different names.
"It took police four years to find and capture them," Pol Col Kittisak said.
A death certificate, fake civil service ID cards and two handguns were also seized from the couple's house.
They will be taken to Samut Sakhon police station for further questioning.
EARLIER REPORT By BangkokPost.com
Police have arrested a daughter of veteran politician on a charge of faking her death in the 2004 tsunami to escape fraud cases totalling 3 billion baht brought against her and her husband.
Kankanit Angkinand, 48, daughter of Piya Angkinand of the dissolved Thai Rak Thai party, was arrested in Bangkok on Thursday, police said.
Parties in the fraud case filed a complaint to police about three and a half years ago, saying they did not believe she was dead.
Police said Mrs Kankanit, with the help of her husband Charnchai Chinsiri, faked her death in the 2004 tsunami. He identified a body found on a beach in Ranong province as being his wife.
Mr Charnchai then filed claims on life insurance policies held with several companies and had already been paid millions of baht, police said.
Police said Mrs Kankanit is not dead. She had changed her first name and last name several times and travelled to China to remove a birthmark on her cheek to hide her identity.
The arrested woman's fingerprints matched Mrs Kankanit's prints found on the house registration file, they said.
Her 47-year-old husband was also arrested as an accomplice.
Mrs Kankanit is a defendant in 35 cases and Mr Charnchai in 28 cases, police said.
The two refused to give any statements to police.
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- Writer: WASSAYOS NGAMKHAM
