A young man accused of passing himself off as the chief of the Crime Suppression Division has been arrested for soliciting money online to help people who were swindled.
The alleged imposter, Jumphol Phusang, a former Grab motorbike rider, was apprehended at a house on Soi Hathairat 21 in Min Buri district, Bangkok, Pol Col Montri Thetkhan, deputy CSD chief, told reporters on Tuesday.
Mr Jumphol, 22, was wanted on an arrest warrant issued by the Criminal Court on June 15 on charges of putting false information into a computer system, and public fraud.
Pol Col Montri said the arrest followed a complaint lodged via the CSD Facebook page, stating that someone claiming to be Pol Maj Gen Jirabhop Bhuridej, the CSD chief, had created a Line chat group offering to help people who believed they had been swindled online.
There was also another user in the group claiming to be Pol Lt Col Kasitdet, or “Sawarat Boy’’ (Inspector Boy), who posted comments supporting the bogus CSD chief.
Many people were fooled into paying him between 3,000 baht and 15,000 baht to follow up on their cases. Some people were also lured to invest in a ponzi scheme. They lost about 200,000 baht, Pol Col Montri said.
The real Inspector Boy later filed a complaint with police at the Technology Crime Suppression Division after learning that someone had impersonated him.
Investigators from the CSD and the TCSD found out that Mr Jumphol had claimed to be both the CSD chief and the CSD inspector.
During interrogation after his arrest, Mr Jumphol allegedly admitted to being the imposter and committing fraud for about six months. He explained he needed money to finance his online gambling, Pol Col Montri said.
The suspect had used his mother’s bank accounts to receive money transfers from his victims.
The suspect was handed over to TCSD police.
Police were extending the investigation to see if others were involved.