It is understood that the three men, named as Stanislav Komarov, 34, Vitalii Korobko, 39, and Pantell Acbas, 36, had attempted to make credit card purchases totalling between B300,000 to B400,000 from “Maringa” and “Thai Herbal” in Patak, Karon, businesses which were registered to a Vladimir Orlov.
Because the transactions amounted to such a large amount, Kasikorn BankĖs money laundering crime and security department became suspicious and provided police with details of the shops the transactions went through.
When investigators arrived at Maringa, they found that although the shop was empty the electricity inside was on and they therefore believed somebody was inside.
Police staked out the shop and after a while Stanislav emerged and walked towards a car parked nearby. Police stopped the him at the car and found Pantell sitting inside. When police searched a bag Stanilav was carrying they found inside 33 credit cards, two credit card machines, a card copying machine and notebook computer.
The police took the man back to the shop and there they found Vitalii.
Stansilav and Vitalii told police they had only been in Phuket a few months, but Pantell said he had been here for about one year.
When asked about the cards, Stansilav said that he received the cards from someone else and was not responsible for printing them.
Phuket City Police Deputy Superintendent Prawit Engchuan said that it is possible that they bought the card details from a third-party and that they may well have not printed the cards themselves. However, they will investigate further to find out the truth.
Police are currently looking for Vladimir Orlov, who the two shops are believed to be owned by. Provincial Police CommanderPol Maj Gen Patchara Boonyasit told the press today, “We are doing our best to find Vladimir Orlov and find out his exact connection with these three men.”