Jo Ferrari likely to lose assets

The anti-graft agency has charged ex-policeman Thitisan "Jo Ferrari" Utthanaphon, serving jail time for torturing and killing a drug suspect in custody, with being unusually rich and will have his assets worth 1 billion baht seized, said a source.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) found at its most recent meeting that the former policeman had amassed an unusually large amount of money and agreed to forward its finding to the Office of Attorney-General.

According to the source, the case will be filed with the Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases which will be asked to order the asset seizure.

The probe into the ex-policeman's assets began in August last year when the NACC's Region 6 office recommended an inquiry into claims that he demanded money from drug suspects. Media reports surfaced that he owned a luxury home and 29 cars worth over 100 million baht.

Thitisan was among six officers found guilty by the court in June over the death of Chiraphong Thanapat, a 24-year-old drug suspect. They were accused of killing the man while trying to extort 2 million baht from him during an interrogation on Aug 5 last year.