A former top-three national badminton player has been arrested for stealing an iPad and a motorbike from a woman he met on a dating app.
Supakit Jandara, 27, was apprehended in an internet café in Din Daeng district of Bangkok on Saturday morning. He was wanted on a warrant for larceny, issued on Tuesday in Buri Ram, where his victim lived.
The former athlete, also known as ”Golf Flintstone”, is accused of engaging in an online romance scam and taking advantage of his relationship with the woman to make off with her personal belongings.
Police said Mr Supakit admitted to the crime, telling them he had turned to theft after failing out of university and then seeing his sporting goods business go under. He had been a promising youth badminton player, ranking third nationwide and attending university on an athletic scholarship.
The suspect said he met his victim through a dating application in November and travelled to meet her in Buri Ram in December.
On Dec 23, police say, he stole the woman’s iPad and sold it for 8,000 baht. Several days later, he made off with her GPX motorcycle, selling it for 10,000 baht.
Upon learning she had filed a report against him, he fled to Bangkok, using the money he had received to gamble online while living in the internet café.
Police say they also found two more warnings against Mr Supakit posted on the Blacklistseller website.