BANGKOK — Thai Media compared the thief in the case of stealing antiques from his employer to “Arsène Lupin,” like in the famous movie, because he planned to steal valuable items without getting caught for months and managed to sell them on the black market for hundreds of thousands of baht.
On July 9, Police Major General Theeradej Thammasuthee, Commander of the Metropolitan Police Bureau’s Investigation Division, ordered the investigative team to arrest Mr. Nawa Hongsakul, aka Tick, 36 years old.
He was wanted on an arrest warrant from the South Bangkok Criminal Court for theft from a employer using a vehicle to facilitate the crime, transport the stolen goods, or evade arrest, as well as receiving stolen property.
This case began on May 4, 2024, when a fire broke out at the house of Mr. Kritsana, CEO of an advertising company, in the Bang Na Police Station area. The cause was unknown, but forensics concluded it was an electrical short circuit in the ground floor control room.
Later, Mr. Kritsana inspected the third floor of the house, where rare pictures were stored. He discovered that four framed portraits of King Rama V with royal signatures, over 120 years old and of inestimable family value, were missing. He reported this to Bang Na Police Station on May 7.
Police questioned four suspects from the household but didn’t call in Mr. Nawa for questioning. This was because Mr. Nawa had only started working as Mr. Kritsana’s driver earlier this year while moving into the house. Previously, he had worked at Mr. Kritsana’s company since 2022. After the pictures went missing, Mr. Nawa continued his driving duties as usual, as if nothing had happened.
Later, Police Major General Theeradej found leads from the black market that antique dealers in Chonburi, Nakhon Pathom, and Nonthaburi provinces had bought the valuable items for a total of 100,000 baht.
Bang Na Police Station investigators then requested an arrest warrant. They later learned that the suspect was heading to a department store on Phaya Thai Road. They followed Mr. Kritsana’s van from Phan Fa intersection, unsure if Mr. Nawa was driving. When the van reached the front of the Royal Thai Police Headquarters near Ratchaprasong intersection, officers saw Mr. Nawa in the vehicle and immediately arrested him.
Mr. Nawa confessed to stealing his employer’s property to pay off multiple illegal debts.
A background check on Mr. Nawa revealed two prior criminal cases: charges of being a gambling operator or organizer at Samrong Nuea Police Station on June 7, 2015, and charges of violating curfew regulations and driving under the influence of alcohol or other intoxicants in Samrong Nuea Police Station area on September 18, 2021.
Mr. Nawa was then handed over to Bang Na Police Station investigators for further legal proceedings.
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