A woman who created a fake Facebook account in the name of a senior police inspector and bilked almost half a million baht from the cop's contacts has been arrested -- by the real police officer whose identity she stole.
Pol Maj Kanjira Norasan, 42, an inspector from Crime Suppression Subdivision 2, on Sunday arrested Natthaya Khomaram, 25, at a rented room in tambon Tan Diao of Kaeng Khoi district, Saraburi, said Crime Suppression Division commander Pol Maj Gen Montree Thesakhan on Monday.
Ms Natthaya was wanted under an arrest warrant the Criminal Court issued on Nov 4. Found with the suspect were a mobile phone and 11 bank books.
According to Pol Maj Gen Montree, Ms Natthaya set up a Facebook account appearing to belong to Pol Maj Kanjira and sent Facebook messages to her friends, begging for help.
She told them she had urgent financial problems and needed to borrow money, asking them to transfer funds to banks accounts opened by people she had paid to do so. After the victims transferred the money – totallling about 400,000 baht – they were unable to contact her again.
Police said the suspect confessed and told them she was unaware the woman whose identity she stole was a police officer. After discovering her mistake, she said, she tried to return money to victims.
When she realised police were on her trail, she fled her home province of Nakhon Ratchasima for Saraburi.
Meanwhile, Pol Maj Kanjira learned from her friends that a fake Facebook account had been created in her name and used to defraud them.
The officer brought the victims to file their complaints at the Din Daeng police station in Bangkok and then – having a personal interest in the matter – took over the investigation herself.
She traced the suspect through financial transactions and Facebook records, soon collecting enough evidence to seek an arrest warrant from the Criminal Court. Her investigative team tracked the suspect down to an address in Saraburi.
Ms Natthaya was charged with public fraud and making false and fraudulent statements on computer systems.