(13 October) Four Lithuanian nationals have been arrested in Pattaya on suspicion of stealing 5 million baht from ATMs with fake ATM cards.
The police gave the names of the suspects, transcribed from Thai text, as Mr. Raimontus Wisulis, 19; Mr. Kintaras Kaposus, 21; Mr. Paulus Rascaucas, 19; and Mr. Jilius Petraska, 19.
Officers also confiscated an ATM passcode reader machine along with 450 counterfeit ATM and credit cards.
Pol.Col. Suwan Chiaonawintawat said the police had received a complaint from Siam Commercial Bank that it has lost large amounts of money to individuals extracting the cash out of ATMs in Pattaya in recent days, so the police deployed detectives and informants around many potential crime scenes.
By the afternoon of 12 October, Pol.Col. Suwan said, the police were informed that the four Lithuanians could be seen acting suspiciously around a cash machine in front of the Good Inn Hotel.
The four were later arrested and confessed that they had been withdrawing large sums of money from ATMs with their fake cards, claiming that a German national had provided them with the necessary equipment in exchange for 5% cuts from the amount of money they had earned.
The suspects said they usually fled to Bangkok and laid low for a while before returning to Pattaya in order to commit the crimes again. They had reportedly earned 5 million baht with their scheme.
Police say they are searching for other suspects in connection with the four individuals.
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