Thai gang extorted in name of royals

[webfact]

LESE MAJESTE CASE
Gang extorted in name of royals
THE NATION


High-ranking police officials hold a press conference yesterday to detail lese majeste charges against fortune-teller Suriyan Sujaritpolwong, known as Mor Yong, his secretary Jirawong Wattanathewasilp and the late Pol Major Prakrom Warunprapha.

Police display assets seized from Mor Yong Gang; say trio demanded bribes and sponsorships; more persons involved

BANGKOK: -- IN ONE of the biggest crackdowns on a "lese-majeste gang" this year, police are investigating a famous fortune-teller and his alleged accomplices over suspicions they demanded sponsorships and bribes, which they claimed to be for the Royal Family.

The newly appointed police spokesman, Pol General Dejnarong Sutticharnbancha, told a press conference yesterday that there were 13 criminal cases related to this gang.

Identified as suspects are fortune-teller Suriyan Sujaritpolwong, better known as Mor Yong, his secretary Jirawong Wattanathewasilp, Pol Major Prakrom Warunprapha, who died in detention on Friday night, and Sukkho Tarmseree. They will face trial in the Military Court on charges of lese majeste, illegal possession of weapons, and having unlicensed radio communication devices and a station.

Lt-General Srivara Ransibrahm-anakul, the acting deputy national police commissioner who heads the investigation team, said it was likely that more suspects would be identified and more arrest warrants issued.

"We are in the process of gathering evidence," he said.

He also pointed out that the legal chief of the military's ruling National Council for Peace and Order, Wijarn Jodtaeng, had lodged most of the complaints against Suriyan's gang with police on Tuesday.

The complaint also implicated Sukkho but it remains unclear as to whether he is already in detention. Police say Sukkho has some ties with Prakrom. Suriyan and Jirawong are now held at a special detention facility at the 11th Army Circle's Infantry Battalion in Bangkok.

Before his arrest, Suriyan had served as an adviser to a subcommittee responsible for holding PR activities for the "Bike for Mom" cycling event in August 16, as well as the "Bike for Dad" event scheduled for December 11.

According to police, Suriyan, Prakrom and Jirawong fraudulently cited the Royal Family in asking for sponsorships from various private firms several times from June until early this month and also sought privileged mobile-phone numbers from the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission since September.

On August 25 and September 3, the suspects also allegedly claimed they represented the Royal Family in handing out "thank you" cards to the private sector.

Police said they had found evidence the suspects had demanded bribes from a supplier of souvenir pins for royal-themed events.

"The suspects asked for money from subsidiaries of Charoen Pokphand Group for making Bike for Mom pins, and sought money from Muang Thai Insurance to make Bike for Dad pins," Srivara said at the press conference.

The sponsorships they received were in millions of baht, according to the ongoing investigation, and the suspects had tried to hide their ill-gotten gains by transferring the assets to their siblings, relatives or people in their close circle. Some of the money was allegedly used to buy a condominium.

According to police, the gang was also found to be in possession of dozens of state-owned vehicles plus three automobiles sponsored by the Canadian Embassy, plus a long list of valuables.

Yesterday's press conference was held particularly to provide information on cases against Suriyan and his accomplices. Also on display at the event were various assets such as luxury wristwatches, guitars, amulets, luxury bags, and jewellery.

Srivara said most items on display were found in Prakrom's possession. Some of the precious items belonged to Pol Lt-General Pongpat Chayapan, a former chief of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), who is serving a jail term for lese-majeste offences. "The items were confiscated frm Pongpat and are in military custody. It is investigating how this civilian suspect secured the possessions," he said.

Srivara said Prakrom might have taken away these valuables before soldiers had completed the process of confiscating Pongpat's assets.

"But we will investigate further to determine if there are any irregularities and if anyone should be held responsible. If yes, we will definitely take legal action against wrongdoers," Srivara said.

CIB chief Pol Lt-General Thitiraj Nongharnpitak, the deputy head of the investigation team, said the suspects had tried to destroy information that could be used as evidence against them.

"We are trying to restore and retrieve information," he said in response to a question about the suspects' computers. "We have been using sophisticated techniques."

Prakrom was working for the Technology Crime Suppression Division at the time of his arrest. Criminal proceedings against him have come to a halt because of his death. His alleged accomplices, however, will face further legal actions.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Gang-extorted-in-name-of-royals-30271845.html

-- The Nation 2015-10-29

[webfact]

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[tbthailand]

so this story makes it clear that the junta fingered these guys and then one of them allegedly kills himself while in the junta's custody and then, as reported elsewhere, the junta simply refuses to do an autopsy or an investigation into the death.

How bad can a fish smell before someone says something?

[AGareth2]

best not to have a sense of smell in Thailand

[ChiangMaiThai]

This country is a disaster and a joke in so many ways. Sad as there is so much potential.

[metisdead]

If you're going to comment on moderation, your post is going to be removed. If you do not want your posts to be removed, then abide by the forum rules when posting.

[apetley]

BBC now carrying this with some more details.

[NongKhaiKid]

The BBC has been slightly more forthcoming and named a specific member of the royal family whose name was supposedly being used in furtherance of crime.

I'm not commenting further on this touchy subject.

Edited October 29, 2015 by NongKhaiKid

[lovelomsak]

I read the title of this thread I thought it was about some yellow shirts. activists. Had to read it to find out it wasnot.

[pmugghc]

Many have critized the LM laws, but I agree extortion using anyones name should be illegal.

[Time Traveller]

Something doesn't sound right with this case.

If this "gang" was guilty of extortion, then they should be charged with that offense, not with Lese Majeste.

The only possible reasons are that either the charges are all phony and now the goverment is making stuff up, or, Extortion is not considered a crime in thailand. Which is it I wonder?

Edited October 29, 2015 by Time Traveller

[Pimay1]

Something doesn't sound right with this case.

If this "gang" was guilty of extortion, then they should be charged with that offense, not with Lese Majeste.

The only possible reasons are that either the charges are all phony and now the goverment is making stuff up, or, Extortion is not considered a crime in thailand. Which is it I wonder?

From what I have seen, extortion is considered a crime as long as it is Thai extorting Thai but not when Thai extorts a foreigner.

[steelepulse]

This appears to be a 10' pole thread and I still won't touch it.

[pmugghc]

Perhaps it wasn't formal "extortion", but "exploitation", which is why it falls under LM laws.

[Prbkk]

This is confusing: the ill-gotten treasure confiscated from one ratbag by the new , clean guys have mysteriously ended up in the hands of a different ratbag. Fortunately the newest of the new good guys have caught this ratbag and confiscated the treasures again. Round 3 coming up?

[mancub]

This appears to be a 10' pole thread and I still won't touch it.

I wouldn't even consider touching it with yours !

[ratcatcher]

This is confusing: the ill-gotten treasure confiscated from one ratbag by the new , clean guys have mysteriously ended up in the hands of a different ratbag. Fortunately the newest of the new good guys have caught this ratbag and confiscated the treasures again. Round 3 coming up?

Looks like I have some competition.

[exbikey]

So, the police are going to press charges against the 'fortune teller' Mor Yong. Mmmm I wonder why he didn't see that one coming?

[mikemac]

Mor Yong is not much of a fortune teller else he would have seen this coming and avoided it.

( Sorry exbikey, did not see your post before I posted this one )

Edited October 29, 2015 by mikemac

[mikemac]

This is confusing: the ill-gotten treasure confiscated from one ratbag by the new , clean guys have mysteriously ended up in the hands of a different ratbag. Fortunately the newest of the new good guys have caught this ratbag and confiscated the treasures again. Round 3 coming up?

I bet a lot of TVF members don't know what a "ratbag" is.

An old Italian guy I worked with in the NT years ago used to call people he did not like a "rat-a-bag".

[dcpo]

They'll be tried in a military court, so at least the people judging the case will have relevant experience.

[kinmaew]

and the poor keep getting poorer

[Praematura]

The article would be more accurate if the word "gang" was replaced with the word "military."

[Suradit69]

so this story makes it clear that the junta fingered these guys and then one of them allegedly kills himself while in the junta's custody and then, as reported elsewhere, the junta simply refuses to do an autopsy or an investigation into the death.

How bad can a fish smell before someone says something?

"How bad can a fish smell before someone says something?"

Not much required before someone says something here at the hub of conspiracy theories. Quite often the fish exist only in overly-active imaginations.

[Vandadavid]

so this story makes it clear that the junta fingered these guys and then one of them allegedly kills himself while in the junta's custody and then, as reported elsewhere, the junta simply refuses to do an autopsy or an investigation into the death.

How bad can a fish smell before someone says something?

Same day different fish and nothing has or ever will change... Just new game players and different rules

[Bluespunk]

"The items were confiscated frm Pongpat and are in military custody. It is investigating how this civilian suspect secured the possessions," he said."

Shouldn't take that long to work out.

[stickylies]

so this story makes it clear that the junta fingered these guys and then one of them allegedly kills himself while in the junta's custody and then, as reported elsewhere, the junta simply refuses to do an autopsy or an investigation into the death.

How bad can a fish smell before someone says something?

well, this is thailand where rotten fish is considered a delicacy

on the rest of the article i cannot comment as per forum rules

[metisdead]

A post in violation of this forum rule has been removed:

9) You will not post inflammatory messages on the forum, or attempt to disrupt discussions to upset its participants, or trolling. Trolling can be defined as the act of purposefully antagonizing other people on the internet by posting controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant or off-topic messages with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional response or to generally disrupt normal on-topic discussion.

[GinBoy2]

And once upon a time, in a Galaxy Far Far Away......

[JAG]

And once upon a time, in a Galaxy Far Far Away......

That's one hell of a ventriloquists act.

Usually the dummy is smaller than the ventriloquist!