Warrants issued for 4 immigration officers for crypto extortion
published : 21 Mar 2023 at 16:20
writer: Wassayos Ngamkham
Arrest warrants have been approved for four immigration police accused of the abduction of a Chinese man and Thai woman and extortion of 30,000 tether crypto coins, worth about 1 million baht, deputy police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn said.
The complaint was filed by the Chinese man, whose name was not released, and his Thai interpreter, Namee Sae Lee, with Din Daeng police on March 20.
They said that on March 10 they were abducted by men from a house in Din Daeng area and taken in a car to a house in Soi Prachasongkroh 2, also in Din Daeng area. There, the men extorted from them 30,000 USDT, the tether stablecoin pegged to the US dollar.
On Monday night, police detained three men suspected of involvement. They were taken to Din Daeng police station for questioning. They were questioned separately. All denied any involvement.
Pol Gen Surachate said police investigators learned that some police officers might also have been involved.
On Tuesday morning, Din Daeng investigators obtained arrest warrants from the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases for four police officers.
Sources said the arrest warrants were for two police inspectors and two non-commissioned officers. all of them working at the Immigration Police Bureau.
Three of them had reported to their commanders and were being questioned, a source said. One had not.
