According to police, the man, Suchart Sombutchai, 34, from Nakhon Sri Thammarat had also carried out similar crimes in Pattaya but charges against him were later dropped.
At 1:30pm today (Oct 9), Phuket Provincial Police held a press conference at the Phuket Provincial Police Station to announce the arrest of Suchart who was wanted on arrest warrant No. 456/2561 issued by the Phuket Provincial Court last Saturday (Oct 6) on charges of Fraud by acting in disguise as another person.
Police stated in their press conference that between 2014-2018 Suchart had deceitfully received money from business owners totalling around B500,000 in four provinces; Phuket, Phang Nga, Surat Thani and Chonburi.
Suchart would dress as a police officer and go to businesses and collect between B1,000-B10,000 a time for what he said were “police activities”.
He would also threaten the owners if they refused to pay.
“Suchart has accepted his charge and admitted that he worked alone. However, Phuket Provincial Police will investigate this case further and look for more accounts into the people who may have opened accounts for Suchart for his to syphon his money.
“This should be a warning for people to check the identification of any person proclaiming to be police or government officials so as to avoid deception,” said Phuket Provincial Police commander Maj Gen Wisan Panmanee.