Officers led by Pol Lt Col Phongsak Meemusik arrested the woman, named by the CIB only as ‘Ms Kanraya’, 40, in Srisoonthorn, the CIB said in a report posted last Thursday (June 13).
Na Thawi Provincial Court in Songkhla issued warrant No. 151/2023 on 3 Apr, 2023 seeking the arrest of Kanraya for “jointly defrauding others”, said the CIB report.
Chonburi Provincial Court issued warrant No. 711/2565 on Dec 6, 2022 seeking the arrest of Kanraya for “stealing property by pretending to be another person and violating the Computer Crime Act by corruption or deception by introducing into a computer system any computer data that is distorted or falsified, whether in whole or in part, or false computer information that is likely to cause damage to anyone.”
The Criminal Court issued warrant No. 2128/2566 on July 4, 2023 seeking the arrest of Kanraya for “together defrauding the people and jointly importing computer data into a computer system that is distorted or falsified, whether in whole or in part, or computer information that is false in a way that is likely to cause damage to the public.”
Kanraya was also wanted on arrest warrant No. 168/2023 issued by Phichit Provincial Court on Aug 9, 2023 for “forging official documents or using false official documents, fraudulently representing another person, and dishonestly or deceitfully importing into a computer system computer data which is distorted or falsified, whether in whole or in part, or false computer information which is against any person.”
Finally, Kanraya was also wanted on arrest warrant No. 34/2023 issued by Udon Thani District Court on Mar 13, 2023 for “jointly defrauding and dishonestly or deceitfully introducing into a computer system computer data that is distorted or falsified, whether in whole or in part, or computer information that is false in a way that is likely to cause damage to others.”
Among the charges against her, it was found that Kanraya had used a bank account to receive transfers of money obtained by defrauding the public in various ways, such as claiming to be a police officer at Muang Chiang Rai Police Station, deceiving victims into transferring money for verification, deceiving victims into investing in selling products online by claiming that they would receive high returns, and tricking people into selling products online, among others, the CIB noted in their report.
The officers ordered to investigate the crimes had learned that Kanraya had fled to Thalang District in Phuket, where she was arrested, said the CIB report.
Kanraya was handed over to officers from Chana Police Station in Songkhla Province for further legal action.
Kanraya has denied all charges against her, the report noted.
She told police that around February last year, she was paid to open accounts for a Chinese guide in Phuket. She was paid B1,500 per account. After that, she was unable to contact the Chinese guide again.
Officers believe that the Chinese guide was probably hired by the call centre gang specifically to open the accounts so the gang could use the accounts to transfer funds, the report said.
The CIB warned people to refuse offers to open a bank account for others to use. Doing so is considered an offence and punishable by law by up to three years in jail, or a fine of up to B300,000, or both.
If other people use the bank account to commit an offence, the person who opened the account may be punished for that offence as well, the CIB warned.