BANGKOK — A man reportedly confessed Tuesday to fabricating a story that he was abducted and robbed of 80,000 baht by men wearing police vests.
Srawut Pungprasop, 18, confessed to making up the story of being robbed in the early hours of the morning at an ATM in north Bangkok because he had gambled away money given to him by his sister to deposit for his school tuition.
Read: Police Dubious About Man’s ATM Abduction-by-Cop Story
“He made it all up. There was no sign of him on the 60 CCTVs around the market from 10pm to midnight,” said Capt. Anusorn Pratumtong of Khan Na Yao Police Station said Wednesday morning.
Srawut was charged with filing a false report Tuesday, a crime punishable by up to three years in jail and a fine of 6,000 baht. Col. Singh Singhdech said that Srawut would be convicted in court today.
Srawut originally told police that four men had abducted him in a van, beaten him and taken his money just as he was depositing it at a Kasikorn bank ATM located in the Bang Khen district’s Thanommit Market.
Police were immediately skeptical of his story as the ATM deposit machines do not take money after 10pm.
Khan Na Yao police pulled CCTV tapes from around the market and the bank branch located there, but found no footage of him or the car he claimed to have driven there. Police interrogated Srawut for five hours Tuesday until they said he confessed to inventing the story.
He said his sister, who works as a promotional model for race cars, had given him 80,000 baht for his school which he promptly gambled away.
