'Benz Racing' jailed for eight years for money-laundering
published : 7 Sep 2018 at 15:16
writer: Gregory Morrissey
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Online Reporters
The Criminal Court on Friday sentenced Akarakit "Benz Racing" Worarojcharoendet to eight years in prison for drug-related money-laundering, and two associates to 24 years for trafficking and money-laundering.
Akaraki, 31, Sansern Rasanont, 26, and Angsuporn Ina, 29, were arraigned by public prosecutors on charges of laundering money and assisting in drug trafficking. They were accused of supplying 140,000 methamphetamine pills and 19 kilogrammes of crystal meth to addicts and retailers between November 2016 and February 2017, and opening bank accounts to launder money for Natthaphol "Boy" Nakkham, who had already been convicted of drug trafficking.
Prosecutors told the court that Natthaphol transferred about 10 million baht, over about 50 transactions, to Akarakit's account, from December 2014 to November 2016. Akarakit spent the money on luxury cars and motorcycles. Akarakit denied all charges. The other two, husband and wife, admitted to money-laundering only.
The Criminal Court acquitted Akarakit, the husband of actress Napapa "Patt" Tantrakul, of assisting in drug trafficking, giving him the benefit of the doubt. He was found guilty of money-laundering.
The other two defendants were each sentenced to 20 years in jail for assisting in drug trafficking and eight additional years each for money-laundering. The latter sentence was commuted to four because they confessed. The court also fined the couple 400,000 baht each for the drug offence.
The three, together with Natthaphol, were arrested after the apprehension of Lao drug kingpin Xaysana Keopimpha, 42, in early 2017. The court sentenced Xaysana to life imprisonment in March for smuggling 1.2 million speed pills into Thailand.
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Vocabulary
- acquit: to state officially that someone is not guilty of the crime they were accused of - ตัดสินให้พ้นโทษ
- apprehension: arrest - การจับกุม
- arraign (verb): to bring somebody to court in order to formally accuse them of a crime - ฟ้องกล่าวโทษ,นำตัวขึ้นศาล
- benefit of the doubt: accepting that somebody has told the truth or has not done something wrong because you cannot prove that they have not -
- commute (a punishment): to change a punishment to one that is less severe - ลดโทษ (รุนแรงให้น้อยลง)
- confess (verb): to admit that you have committed a crime - สารภาพผิด
- convict: to prove in a court of law that someone is guilty of a crime - พิสูจน์ว่าผิดกฎหมาย
- crystal methamphetamine (noun): a white crystalline form of the drug methamphetamine that people take by inhaling through the nose, smoking it or injecting it with a needle -
- deny: to say that you did not do something that someone has accused you of doing - ปฏิเสธ
- kingpin (noun): the most important person, group, country, etc. in an organization or activity - ตัวการสำคัญ, ตัวการใหญ่
- latter: used for referring to the second of two people, things, or groups that have just been mentioned - อันหลัง,ครึ่งหลัง,ส่วนที่สอง
- laundering: money laundering; laundering money; hiding the origin of money obtained from illegal activities by putting it into legal businesses - การฟอกเงิน
- methamphetamine: a stimulant drug that increases alertness and energy, but which is dangerous when taken in large amounts or over a long period of time - ยาบ้า
- prosecutor: a lawyer whose job is to prove in court that someone accused of a crime is guilty - อัยการ
- retailer: a person or company that sells goods directly to the public for their own use - ผู้ขายปลีก
- smuggling: secretly and illegally taking goods or people into or out of a country or place - การลักลอบ
- trafficking: dealing in illegal goods, like drugs, weapons or in illegally moving humans or animals from one place to another - การค้าสิ่งที่ผิดกฎหมาย
- Keywords
- drug trafficking
- drug
- money-laundering
- court
