PHUKET: Police issued an arrest warrant Sunday for a 35-year-old Hungarian suspected of murdering a countryman and business partner after the man's body was found and identified.

Police said they were looking for Moshe David, a Hungarian citizen who also holds an Israeli passport with the name (phonetically) Andras Ngmgth Gabor, Phuket provincial police Chote Chavarnwiwat  said. 

The body of a man identified later as Peter Reisz was found in a black plastic bag at a rubber plantation in Phuket’s Kathu district on Friday. The body had five stab wounds to the torso, and three severe head wounds.

An investigation found Mr David was a business partner with Reisz. The two ran a company at Koh Samu, Surat Thani, Pol Maj Gen Chote said.

Investigators believe Mr David became furious at his partner after confronting Reize about what he said was his forged signature on a land sale deal worth about 15 million baht. 

Reize filed a complaint at a local police daily report, saying Mr David threatened to kill him. He also informed the Hungarian Embassy in Bangkok about the incident and was told to contact embassy officials every three days.

On Nov 16, Reisz  moved to a rented house in Phuket’s Thalang district. He was last seen in his white pickup truck on Nov 24, police said. After the discovery of Reisz’s body, police found the pickup had appeared in Samui, where it was advertised for sale.   

Police suspected Mr David may have killed his friend. They said Sunday they have prepared charges of premeditated murder and concealing the dead body.

Pol Maj Gen Chote quoted witnesses as saying that the suspect and the dead man went together to buy bolts at Piyawan construction warehouse in tambon Thoongtong in Kathu district at about 5pm on the day Reisz went missing.  

They may have bought the bolts for a door repair work at a house, which has not yet been identified, said the Phuket police chief. The murder apparently took place at that house, and then moved and hidden.