Anusara Kaewsopak made a complaint at Chalong Police Station on Thursday after she realised her house in Chalong had been broken into and the cash she was keeping in a safe had been stolen.
Ms Anusara told police that the cash was given to her by her mother after she sold some assets. The money was to be used to set up a restaurant business in Karon.
Region 8 Police Acting Commander, Lt Gen Pongwut Pongsri led investigations into the incident and having inspected CCTV footage in the area, discovered that Tanapat Wangsa-kna, 37, who lives opposite Ms Anusara, was acting suspiciously around the house near the time that it was burgled.
Investigations also revealed that Tanapat and Ms Anusara’s mother knew each other from when Tanapat worked as an estate agent and facilitated the sale of property for her in the past.
Once enough evidence was gathered to implicate Tanapat as the perpetrator, an arrest warrant was obtained from court yesterday (Apr 8) and police intercepted Tanapat on Thepkasattri Rd in Thalang on the same day while she was on her way to Koh Lipe in a new B1.22 million Ford Ranger pickup truck that was bought with the stolen money.
When police first questioned Tanapat, she said that she had recently won the lottery. However, when police checked with the government lottery office, it was confirmed that her statement was false.
Police also discovered that Tanapat has a criminal record consisting of theft and drug-related convictions.
When presented with the evidence against her, Tanapat eventually confessed to stealing the cash from Ms Anusara’s home in Chalong. She also admitted to buying the Ford Ranger with the money, as well as throwing a party in her neighbourhood to celebrate her “lottery win”.
Police seized the truck and B1,039,000 in cash that was recovered. They also seized clothes and a motorbike that Tanapat used during the burglary.
A proportion of the cash was spent and police are working to recover it.
Gen Pongwut confirmed that Tanapat has been charged with burglary and criminal damage.