PHITSANULOK: Police have arrested four men on suspicion of charging exorbitant interest on loans and impounded 163 vehicles they are said to have kept as collateral.
Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop Bhuridej, commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau, led the raid at an unregistered warehouse where 84 cars and 79 motorcycles were kept on Mittraphap Road in Muang district yesterday morning. One of the vehicles had been reported stolen in Malaysia.
During the raid, police arrested suspected creditor Natthachai Khuthanthong, 29, manager Kanpong Panwaree, 31, and warehouse attendants Patradanai Pongjinda, 21, and Kulthawat Im-ong, 38.
Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop said the suspected loan shark illegally charged 10% monthly interest and kept the vehicles as collateral.
Mr Kanpong allegedly took a 3% cut for his role, while the other two received 15,000 baht each per month for guarding the warehouse and delivering and seizing the vehicles.
The lender forced debtors to sign ownership transfer agreements, with the group having run the scam, with a turnover that had hit nearly 50 million baht, since early last year, Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop said.
The 163 impounded vehicles included a car reportedly stolen in Malaysia, two vehicles with fake licence plates and two with forged ownership documents, he said.
The four suspects were charged with illegal lending and setting unreasonably high interest rates.