Gen Sompong told a press conference in Bangkok yesterday (Oct 2) that the Immigration Bureau received an official request for cooperation in helping to arrest the Chinese suspects on Sept 18.
The three – named only as Mr Ma, 42; Mr Li, also 42; and Mrs Chen, 30 – were all wanted on arrest warrants issued in Tianjin City, Gen Sompong explained.
They had all fled China and were hiding in Phuket, he added.
A team of investigators was ordered to expedite their investigation in tracking down the fugitives, Gen Sompong said.
The team, including six officers from Phuket Immigration, soon found all three suspects were staying at a room in Kamala, he added.
All three were “invited” to come to the Phuket Immigration Office in Phuket Town, where their permission to stay in Thailand were revoked and all three detained in the immigration detention cells.
Ma was a financial officer at a company where he used USB memory stick to transfer company funds by online banking to a company that the his parents had founded, Gen Sompong explained.
In total, through 188 transactions since 2017, Ma had transferred 124 million yuan – equivalent to more than B700 million – to his parents’ accounts, he added.
Later, when Mr Ma knew that he was wanted on an arrest warrant, he arranged for himself and Mrs Chen, who was also wanted on an arrest warrant, to come to Phuket.
Mr Li, who is also wanted on an arrest warrant in China, arrived first to make arrangements, then Mr Ma and Mrs Chen followed later, he added.
All three will be deported back to China, Gen Sompong said.