The alleged mastermind of a gang whose members claimed to work for the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) has been arrested on charges of extorting 3.1 million baht from a resident of Hua Mak district in Bangkok.
Boonserm Khamsang, 53, was apprehended near Supachalasai Stadium in Pathumwan district on Tuesday by investigators from the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB). He faces charges of colluding in extortion, coercion and threats, MBP commissioner Pol Lt Gen Thiti Saengsawang Saengsawang, said on Wednesday.
Mr Boonserm is the last of four suspects to be rounded up in the case.
Investigators were called in after a group of four men claiming to soldiers attached to the Isoc and Crime Suppression Division police searched a house in the Hua Mak area around noon on April 11. They claimed the house owner had committed embezzlement, and they demanded 3.1 million baht from him.
Fearing for the safety of his wife and two children, aged 9 and 6, the man gave the money to the gang. They then fled in an Isuzu MU-7 SUV. He later filed a complaint with Hua Mak police.
MPB officers and Hua Mak police subsequently arrested Yafad Chumpraman and two other men. An extended investigation finally led to the arrest of Mr Boonserm on Tuesday.
During questioning, the suspect told police that he had known the victim for about six years before hatching a plot to get money from the man. He had called Mr Yafad from Songkhla to help with the job.
After getting the money, he said he gave his accomplices 500,000 baht each. The MPB has handed him over to Hua Mak police for legal action.