A 63-year-old Malaysian man dubbed "David, king of fake liquor" has been arrested in a car park at a Bangkok shopping mall and admitted to having produced counterfeit foreign whisky for more than 30 years, according to police.
Chan Fat Yat, a Malaysian national, was held on charges of illegally producing liquor, falsifying trademarks and overstaying his visa.
Seized from him were 26 bottles of fake Johnnie Walker, 100 empty bottles labelled Johnnie Walker, 132 screw tops with foreign whisky brand names, 252 fake duty stamps, labels for Johnnie Walker, Chivas Regal whisky and Bin 389 wine, and associated goods, tourist police told a media briefing on Tuesday.
The suspect was detained while delivering whisky to a customer in the car park of The Mall Bang Kapi shopping complex on Monday afternoon. He tried to escape in his car as police moved in, but was caught.
His arrest came after tourist police based at Suvarnabhumi airport and airport officials were advised by immigration officers in Songkhla of a suspect parcel en route from Hat Yai airport to Suvarnabhumi.
When the parcel arrived the officers examined it and found it contained items such as empty foreign whisky bottles, screw tops and labels with foreign whisky names.
The parcel was addressed to "Mr Chan Fat Yat". Police investigators found out he was a Malaysian and was due to deliver fake whisky to a client at the shopping mall car park on Monday. This led to his arrest.
During interrogation, the suspect allegedly admitted he had produced fake foreign whisky for more than 30 years and was known as “David, king of fake whisky,’’ tourist police said.
Thai media reported that investigators learned the suspect had also used Grab Bike services to deliver his moonshine to customers.
Tourist police announce the arrest of Malaysian suspect Chan Fat Yat, 63, on charges of illegally producing liquor, forging trademarks and overstaying his visa, at a media briefing on Tuesday. Many items, including bottles labelled as foreign whisky were seized from the suspect and displayed during the briefing. (@1155TPB Facebook page)