Phuket cop cleared in South African 'cash for freedom' claim

PHUKET: -- A Phuket policeman has been cleared of allegations made by a South African man that he had to “buy his freedom” following his arrest for passing counterfeit US dollars.

It took Chalong Police duty officer Boonlert Onklang almost a month to prove his innocence after South African tourist Gabriel Sequeira was quoted by the South African media saying he paid almost half-a-million baht “to police and lawyers” to secure his release after he was charged for allegedly passing bogus US banknotes.

After the allegations became international news, Lt Col Boonlert was "transferred" to Phuket Provincial Police headquarters in Phuket Town and given time to prepare a case to clear his name before the Office of the Attorney General in Bangkok.

“I went to Bangkok on October 13 [last Thursday] with all the evidence needed to prove that I was innocent, that I did not do what I was accused of.

“I am happy that the investigation team agreed with the evidence presented and I have finally been declared free of any charge in this case,” he said.

After the ruling, Lt Col Boonlert held a press conference before a parliament subcommittee.

“I explained myself so the public would understand my case. I believe the truth will always come out. I submitted all the evidence required and the truth came out that I was not guilty,” he said.

“Since this issue concerns the reputation of the entire country, I have also informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Tourism Authority of Thailand and Senate Standing Committee on Tourism about the ruling,” he added.

At the press conference, Lt Col Boonlert said he was able to prove that the money Mr Sequeira claimed to have paid to “police and lawyers” to “buy his freedom” was in fact all legal fees paid to his lawyer, and in amounts he had agreed to.

“Mr Gabriel was arrested for possessing counterfeit US dollars. We kept him here for one night, on September 2. He was released the following day, but we 'had to' hold his passport from the day we released him until completion of the investigation on September 28,” Lt Col Boonlert explained to the Phuket Gazette.

“I had nothing to do with the money in question. Mr Sequeira spent that amount to pay the lawyer he hired,” he added.

During the investigation, Lt Col Boonlert was transferred to Phuket Provincial Police Station for 30 days effective from October 4.

Now that he has been cleared of any wrongdoing he will be transferred back to Chalong Police Station, effective October 22.

“I am happy to return to my duties with a clean record,” he said.

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/news/detail.asp?id=11222

-- Phuket Gazette 2011-10-18

At the press conference, Lt Col Boonlert said he was able to prove that the money Mr Sequeira claimed to have paid to “police and lawyers” to “buy his freedom” was in fact all legal fees paid to his lawyer, and in amounts he had agreed to.

In other words, the money wasn't paid to "police and lawyers". It was paid to lawyers, who then paid the police.

Well the missing information is..... Was the money he was accused of using actually Counterfeit?? If it was why hasn't the guy been charged??? Sounds like someone needs to look at the lawyers account.

And, may I add, was he given the money back that they confiscated for being conterfeit?

Yes, I would like to see comment/proof of the lawyer's accounting, also the amount he agreed to pay his lawyer, in writing.

Realistically, the lawyer told him it would cost x amount to pay off the police. He gave the money to the lawyer who then passed on the bribe. Of course the lawyer will say it was all for his fees otherwise the gravy train stops.

For anyone that can read between the lines, the huge amount paid to the lawyers was spread around. Even the best law firms in the world don't charge as much as the South African paid in "fees" for a few hours of negotiating by his Thai lawyer. Everyone gets paid, everyone's happy. End of story.

I too find it somewhat amusing that no charges were pressed after paying the fees. Does this mean he was falsely accused, or the amount of fees paid made any criminal actions go away?

Well the missing information is..... Was the money he was accused of using actually Counterfeit?? If it was why hasn't the guy been charged??? Sounds like someone needs to look at the lawyers account.

That's the part I don't understand. Was the 'counterfeit' money presented as evidence ? Something very fishy here.

Don't forget the maximum "overstay" fine - he wasn't here long enough to warrant this fine even if his passport wasn't being held by the BIB.

“I went to Bangkok on October 13 [last Thursday] with all the evidence needed to prove that I was innocent, that I did not do what I was accused of.

It would be nice to read what evidence was presented, instead of a statement to the press.

Why is it i don't believe the police in Thailand ... ?

Of course the lawyer had to pay the police as that's the only way to stay out of jail .

Phuket cop cleared in the eyes of Thailand maybe, but in the eyes of South Africa and the rest of the world I don't think so....

“I went to Bangkok on October 13 [last Thursday] with all the evidence needed to prove that I was innocent, that I did not do what I was accused of.

It would be nice to read what evidence was presented, instead of a statement to the press.

Something tells me that this statement was the key consideration.

Since this issue concerns the reputation of the entire country,

Well the missing information is..... Was the money he was accused of using actually Counterfeit?? If it was why hasn't the guy been charged??? Sounds like someone needs to look at the lawyers account.

Yeah, you're right. I was curious about that.

Phuket cop cleared in the eyes of Thailand maybe, but in the eyes of South Africa and the rest of the world I don't think so....

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“I went to Bangkok on October 13 [last Thursday] with all the evidence needed to prove that I was innocent, that I did not do what I was accused of.

It would be nice to read what evidence was presented, instead of a statement to the press.

Something tells me that this statement was the key consideration.

Since this issue concerns the reputation of the entire country,

Of course the public cannot be shown the evidence he presented in Bangkok because it comprised a thick file of brown folding pages.

Don't bother to ask whether the US dollar bills were in fact counterfeit, or whether they were provided by the South African or the bank clerk, or why no one was charged, if what the plods said was true. It doesn't matter whether the story makes sense as long as the above mentioned evidence was properly presented and the blame can be dumped on a foreigner, especially a black man.

Please post the lawyers name, so that we (South Africans) if (heavens forbid) we find ourselves in any type of trouble so that we dont use him

"I went to Bangkok on October 13 [last Thursday] with all the evidence needed to prove that I was innocent, that I did not do what I was accused of.

It would be nice to read what evidence was presented, instead of a statement to the press.

Of course the public cannot be shown the evidence he presented in Bangkok because it comprised a thick file of brown folding pages.

Don't bother to ask whether the US dollar bills were in fact counterfeit, or whether they were provided by the South African or the bank clerk, or why no one was charged, if what the plods said was true. It doesn't matter whether the story makes sense as long as the above mentioned evidence was properly presented and the blame can be dumped on a foreigner, especially a black man.

The SA man was white. The bills were fake (no evidence of this was presented to the press though) but they didn't charge the SA man after they investigated and determined there was no intent. The man had indeed gotten the bills from Rennies in SA that was a "reputable" money changer. So, no intent, no charges... But he was still taken to the cleaners by the lawyer, with possible kickbacks to the police...

I seriously doubt there were any kickbacks to the police.

He was 'just' ripped of by his lawyer.

A certain policeman from Chalong who is not unlike the one in the story has been involved in many many scams extorting money from foreigners. Of course he received no money from the SA'can he was paid by the lawyer whose name is never mentioned! And I will go as far as to say the media in Phuket know this police man well. I would appeal to anybody here who has had any dealings with this man to please PM me!

For anyone that can read between the lines, the huge amount paid to the lawyers was spread around. Even the best law firms in the world don't charge as much as the South African paid in "fees" for a few hours of negotiating by his Thai lawyer. Everyone gets paid, everyone's happy. End of story.

I too find it somewhat amusing that no charges were pressed after paying the fees. Does this mean he was falsely accused, or the amount of fees paid made any criminal actions go away?

I don't know if the almost B500k made it go away, but that certainly is not a huge fee by Western attorney fee standards. It can cost more than that to clear a 16 year old for smoking a joint in public. I would be thankful, the alternative is less attractive than B500k to me.

The "fee" was 700K not 500K and it was not an international firm, but rather Somchai's "I've got connections" firm. What int'l firm bills out at 6K USD/hr for a few hours of negotiating a simple case?

>>it can cost more than that to clear a 16 year old for smoking a joint in public.

Really,where would this be?