A former pawnshop employee has been arrested at a border checkpoint in Nong Khai for allegedly stealing gold items pledged by customers at the shop to repledge them, reaping about 170 million baht over the past two years.
Immigration police arrested Jeerawan Krasae-in, 30, a resident of Pak Kret district in Nonthaburi, at the First Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge’s border checkpoint in Nong Khai on Wednesday.
The woman was wanted under an arrest warrant issued by the Nonthaburi provincial court on Dec 26, 2023, on charges of colluding in stealing valuables from an employer, said Pol Col Kritmongkut Buranaphakdi, chief of Nong Khai immigration checkpoint, during a media briefing on Wednesday.
In October last year, a representative of a pawnshop in Pak Kret filed a complaint with police at Pak Kret station against two employees - Ms Jeerawan and another woman identified only as Sirinthip - on theft charges.
The complaint was filed after the pawnshop discovered that gold necklaces and gold bars pledged at the shop had a value worth less than the money it paid to customers who pledged their items. The shop also found there were fake gold ornaments mixed up with real ones in its storage room.
The investigation found that the two employees had allegedly stolen gold items pledged by customers and asked their accomplices to pledge them to get money from the shop. The suspects had allegedly given 1,000-2,000 baht each time to each of their accomplices for the job. The remaining money would be transferred to their bank accounts. They had done this for over two years and reaped over 170 million baht, according to the investigation.
Police then sought court approval to issue arrest warrants to the duo. Ms Sirinthip was earlier arrested while Ms Jeerawan fled to Laos.
Immigration investigators later learned that the suspect was crossing the border to Nong Khai on Wednesday. When she arrived at the bridge around noon on Wednesday, immigration officers on duty detained her and coordinated with investigators to make the arrest.
During questioning, Ms Jeerawan initially admitted to the theft charges. She claimed she had used most of the money to place bets on online gambling. The suspect was handed over to Pak Kret police for legal action.