Three people accused of opening mule accounts for scam gangs have been arrested separately in Bangkok and two other provinces.
Police from the Economic Crime Suppression Division (ECSD) arrested the three suspects — two men and one woman — as part of an anti-online scam operation, the Central Investigation Bureau, which oversees the division, said on Thursday.
In Bangkok, a suspect identified only as Parinthorn, 19, was apprehended in front of an apartment building in Lat Phrao Wang Hin Soi 67 in Lat Phrao district. He was wanted on an arrest warrant issued by the Chiang Mai Juvenile and Family Court on May 9 for fraud and entering false information into a computer system.
Police said the suspect had become involved in a call centre scam gang by opening a bank account to receive money transfers totalling about one million baht from victims.
During questioning, Parinthorn admitted he had been hired for 1,000 baht to open the account by an acquaintance about three years ago when he was still a youth.
The second suspect, identified only as Sulaiman, 43, was wanted on an arrest warrant issued by the Chiang Mai Provincial Court on May 8 on the same charges. He was arrested at the Tha Chin Union pier in Muang district of Samut Sakhon.
Police say Mr Sulaiman had opened a bank account that took in about 600,000 baht from people duped by scam centre operators.
He told police he had given his account to a neighbour in his village to use. He claimed he had not been hired to open the account.
The third suspect, Kanokkarn, was wanted on a warrant issued by the Chiang Mai Provincial Court on May 8. She was arrested at a goods distribution centre in Wang Noi district of Ayutthaya.
The CIB warned people against opening mule accounts as they would be liable to a jail term of up to 3 years and/or a fine of up to 300,000 baht.