Police have arrested a woman and her younger brother for colluding to stage a love triangle as a front to rob her employer of 3.4 million baht to help the brother pay off his debts in Chon Buri.
Prapaporn Boonmeesanom, 29, and Jatupol Boonmeesanom, 27, were nabbed at an apartment in Bangkok's Phasi Charoen district yesterday. They were wanted on arrest warrants issued by the Chon Buri provincial court.
They were charged with colluding to rob using a getaway vehicle and causing harm to others. According to the police, the robbery took place outside Bangkok Bank's Ban Bung branch in Chon Buri on Tuesday.
That day, Ms Prapaporn, an accountant of a company based in Chon Buri, arrived at the bank's branch with Kritchapat (surname not given), the firm's driver who drove her there.
She withdrew 3.5 million baht in cash for the company, of which 3.46 million baht was put in a bag for Mr Kritchapat to carry and the rest placed in Ms Prapaporn's sling bag.
As they were walking back to their car in the bank's parking lot, a man in a food delivery uniform riding a motorcycle pulled up, wielding a gun.
He began quarrelling with Ms Prapaporn before turning to Mr Kritchapat and punching him. The man accused Mr Kritchapat of being romantically involved with Ms Prapaporn whom he claimed to be his wife.
Mr Kritchapat ran away, giving the man the opportunity to grab the bag with the company's money and flee.
Police later identified the motorcycle rider as Mr Jatupol and found the motorcycle abandoned in a sugar cane field in the district. Registration checks confirmed the vehicle belonged to Mr Jatupol, enabling investigators to piece together the siblings' love triangle plot.
It is believed Mr Kritchapat had no knowledge of the plot. The police asked the provincial court to issue warrants for the arrest of the siblings. The court approved the request.
After the robbery, the siblings went into hiding at the apartment in Phasi Charoen district, where they were arrested. Police found the siblings had spent about 200,000 baht of the stolen money.
Ms Prapaporn allegedly admitted she and her brother worked together on the love triangle plot and the heist. She was trying to help him to find money to pay off debts from a car loan and start a family.
Mr Jatupol told police he thought the bank visit by his sister presented a golden opportunity for him to set up the robbery. According to investigators, Mr Jatupol had also lost money in a bitcoin investment.