BANGKOK — Three people were arrested in an alleged scheme to use stolen credit cards to get cash, police said Saturday.
Warongrit Rattanakitpisan, 46, Jirapha Sae-jiw, 39, and Manusnun Naiphongsri, 44, were arrested Friday at a hotel in Bangkok’s Ratchada area, commander of Metropolitan Police’s investigation unit Teeradet Thammasuthee said. They were found with four credit card machines, 30 credit card receipts, three mobile phones used to communicate with pickpockets, and packages of crystal meth.
Police said the arrests were made following an investigation into a foreign pickpocket gang that was busted earlier this month.
Investigators found that the credit cards stolen from tourists at the Emerald Buddha Temple were given to the suspects, who colluded with businesses that own a credit card terminal to swipe the cards and cash in from the banks afterwards.
The suspects reportedly promised that they would return a 25 to 30 percent cut to business owners who allowed their credit card machines to be used for fraudulent transactions, while they would keep a 5 to 10 percent cut of the amount of cash withdrawn from the cards. The rest would be transferred to a Chinese mastermind who conceived the plan, identified only as “Ar Wei.”
Pol. Maj. Gen. Teeradet said the organized crime caused approximately 1.6 to 3 million baht in damages from at least 20 transactions.
The suspects were charged with drug possession as drugs were found with them during the arrest, Teeradet said. Police were gathering more evidence to press fraud charges against them further.
