Policeman suspected of selling data to call centre suspended

A POLICEMAN who holds the rank of police lieutenant colonel and is suspected to have together with a Commerce Ministry official sold information of over a thousand Thai citizens to a criminal call centre gang has been suspended while an investigation takes place, Matichon newspaper said today (Oct. 29).

Pol. Lt. Gen. Thanayut. Wutthijarathamrong, head of Provincial Police Region 7, ordered Pol. Maj. Gen. Wanchai Thanatham, head of Prachuap Khiri Khan Provincial Police, to set up a fact-checking committee.

This committee to investigate the charges against the police lieutenant colonel attached to Ao Noi police station was set up on Oct. 10 while the police officer was suspended from duty on Oct. 12.

There is additional information that the accused police officer had used police log-in code to get information about the victims through their resident registration countless times and this together with frequency of money being transferred into his bank account raised suspicions against him.

However, the policeman has denied selling data to the call centre gang explaining that he had passed it onto a female friend who is an official at the Commerce Ministry for use in studying for her master’s degree.

The investigation team does not believe this explanation, pointing out that during July and August over 600,000 baht had been transferred to his account each month.

It was mentioned that the accused policeman’s family is well off. Currently they obtain 50,000 baht a month from an inheritance plus 20,000 baht and his salary and other incomes this adds up to at least 100,000 baht a month.

It is expected that the accused policeman will be charged with jointly defrauding people and unlawfully using his authority and possibly other charges as well.

Meanwhile Pol. Maj. Gen. Atthaphon Anusit, the head of Metropolitan Division 2, today ordered the transfer of Pol. Col. Sisan Fuengsang, head of Khok Khram police station, to the headquarters after accusations of kidnapping and extortion of a large sum of money from a gambling den owner surfaced online.

According to the account circulating online policemen had raided a big gambling den near Ramintra expressway and tied up and covered the head of the owner and took him away and later got 5 million baht from him for his release.

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Top and Front Page: Royal Thai Police logo and headquarters. Photo: Matichon

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