Two women have been arrested for an alleged 80-million-baht medical swindle, accused of sending used gloves and boxes of bricks to customers of a Taiwanese buyer.
Officers from the Consumer Protection Police Division arrested the women, identified only as Pannapas and Sawika, in Bangkok, Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop Bhuridej, commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau, said on Wednesday.
Ms Pannapas was taken into custody at a house in Thong Lo, Soi Sukhumvit 55, in Watthana district, and Ms Sawika at a house in Bang Bon district.
The women were wanted on arrest warrants issued by the Criminal Court on Jan 24 for allegedly colluding in public fraud, falsifying documents, using fake documents and putting false information into a computer system.
The arrests came after a Taiwanese firm contacted Advance Nano Coatings Co, of which Ms Pannapas and Ms Sawika were acting as executives, to buy medical gloves from Thailand to sell to customers in other countries in July 2020.
Ms Pannapas claimed her company was an agent for Sri Trang Gloves Plc, a major medical gloves producer in Thailand, allegedly showing falsified documents to support the claim. The Taiwanese firm had purchased one million boxes of gloves from her firm, according to police.
The buyer had transferred US2.78 million, about 86.08 million baht, to the two women in nine tranches.
The first order of medical gloves had been sent, but the Taiwanese firm said they were used gloves, not new ones. The second delivery was sent directly to a client in Switzerland, but the Taiwanese firm said bricks were found inside boxes supposedly containing medical gloves, Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop Bhuridej said.
The company had tried unsuccessfully to contact the two women before talking steps to file a complaint with the Consumer Protection Police Division.
During questioning, the two suspects denied all charges. They were held in custody for legal action, he said.