Ten police officers with Provincial Police Region 2 and the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) have been charged after six suspects under investigation for their involvement in online gambling sites accused the Chon Buri police chief and his subordinates of extortion.
Deputy national police chief, Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn, announced yesterday that the 10 officers have acknowledged the accusations against them.
They were charged with malfeasance by a public official, demanding bribes and extortion, violating sections 157, 149 and 309 of the Criminal Code, respectively.
Of all the police officers accused of being involved in the extortion, only two CCIB officers denied the accusations made against them.
Pol Gen Surachate said the main suspect in the case, Chon Buri police chief Pol Maj Gen Kamphon Leelaprapaporn, has refused to come in for questioning, saying he will release a written statement in five days.
Two civilians, Veera Nasab and Phisit Nakhisornpanee, have also been named accomplices in the case. They are accused of acting as the middlemen between the officers and the suspects.
Mr Veera has agreed to turn himself in soon, while Mr Phisit has reportedly fled to Cambodia, Pol Gen Surachate said.
Pol Gen Surachate also revealed that police are working with the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) to trace Mr Veera's transactions with Chon Buri police.
Officers have confiscated assets belonging to Mr Veera worth almost 300 million baht. Mr Veera is believed to own assets worth over a billion baht.
The case grabbed public attention on June 15, when six people filed a complaint with Khu Khot police in Pathum Thani, accusing Pol Maj Gen Kamphon and his team of demanding 140 million baht from them to avoid prosecution for running an online gambling site called Foxbet168.
The six were named by police as Thaninwat Udomchaowaset, Setthawut, Apirak, Jakrit, Pattana and Kriangsak.
Earlier on May 23, a team of Chon Buri police, armed with warrants, arrested them during raids on three locations in Bangkok and Nonthaburi.
According to a police report, instead of taking suspects to the local police station in Khanna Yao district, police took them to Chon Buri police station and allowed them to negotiate with Pol Maj Gen Kamphon directly.
When asked about the 140-million-baht bribe, Pol Gen Surachate said that investigators would be able to find where the money had been funnelled to.