Police say some "influential" Thais could face arrest in connection with attempts by suspected Chinese scammers to get access to 176 million baht in a local bank account.
Investigators expect to issue arrest warrants for five or six Thai nationals next week, deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn said yesterday.
The case, he said, is a transnational crime involving Chinese nationals running an investment scam, working with influential Thais. He did not elaborate on how many such people may have been involved.
Thai authorities have been working with China to examine the money trail of the Chinese suspects, he told a press conference at the Royal Thai Police Sports Club on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road.
On March 24, staff of the Kasikornbank (KBank) branch at the EmQuartier shopping mall in Bangkok alerted Thong Lor police that a foreign national had used a fake passport to obtain a passbook for an account containing 176 million baht.
On Sunday, Pol Gen Surachate said four Thais and a Cambodian who claimed to be the holder of the KBank account had shown up together at the bank to request a new passbook.