CHONBURI – The police in Chonburi province announced on February 22 the arrest of two Chinese nationals in two separate cases: smuggling a gun into Thailand and evading taxes amounting to 20 million baht.
In the first case, Chonburi Immigration Police arrested Mr. Wang, 53, a director of a company in Klongkiu sub-district, Ban Bueng district, Chonburi province, for tax evasion of nearly 20 million baht. The evasion involved the undervaluation of goods by 15.3 million baht, import duties of 2.7 million baht and VAT of 1.2 million baht.
The police investigation revealed that Mr. Wang and his accomplices imported various goods, including bags, scarves, bedding sets, phone cases, chairs, plastic boxes, lamps, selfie sticks, popcorn, etc., into the Kingdom using 31 duty-free exemption certificates. However, between 16 and 17 December 2019, the customs officers who inspected Mr. Wang’s company did not find any goods in the duty-free zone, the MT Free Zone.
Further examination of the company’s import and export data from the CUSTOMS INFORMATION SYSTEM (CIS) revealed that the company had not issued a declaration for the transfer and payment of duties and taxes to bring goods out of the duty-free zone for use or sale in the Kingdom.
There were also no exit declarations to ship the goods out of the Kingdom. In addition, no evidence of customs clearance or payment of taxes was found for the goods to be brought out of the duty-free zone in other cases.
During the entire four years, the company did not submit any documents to customs officials to clarify the facts and did not express any intention to request a settlement of the case at customs level.
In the second case, police from Pattaya City Police Station arrested two Chinese nationals and confiscated a 9mm pistol, two magazines, ammunition, a bracelet and a shoulder bag from their room at Baan Khunya Homestay in Na Chom Thian Subdistrict, Sattahip District, Chonburi Province.
Pol. Maj-Gen Thawatchakiat Jindakuansanong, commander of Chonburi provincial police, said the suspects, Mr. Cai Qingqing, 28, and Mr. Lei Chen, 28, were arrested on charges of possessing a firearm and ammunition without a license, carrying a firearm in a city without justifiable cause and entering the kingdom without permission.
The Customs Department therefore filed charges against the company and Mr. Wang, as well as other persons involved in the crime, both in their capacity as legal entities and in their personal capacity. When the Pattaya Provincial Court issued an arrest warrant on February 2, 2024, officials tracked down Mr. Wang and brought him to trial.
