Slow progress by Phuket police in catching extortionist in police uniform

However, Phuket Town Police Chief Col Sarawut Chuprasit has assured that his officers are not ignoring the case.

Police have already requested Kasikornbank to freeze the account held by Pongdanai Chaya, which long-term Phuket expat Alain Gogniat was pressured into transferring B56,000 early last month.

Officers have also requested the bank provide evidence that the account was actually opened by Pongdanai as many scam operators now use “mule accounts” to process their ill-gotten gains, he added.

Police a month ago confirmed that Pongdanai is a Chiang Mai native and that officers had already issued a summons for Pongdanai to present himself to police for questioning.

Six weeks later, Pongdanai still has yet to present himself, Col Sarawut confirmed yesterday (Mar 15).

“A second summons is now being issued. If he doesn’t come to meet the police, the police will collect evidence to request an arrest warrant be issued by the court,” Col Sarawut said.

Bank statements show that the funds extorted from Mr Gogniat have already been transferred to another account, and again to a third account, Col Sarawut explained.

Police are now checking the details of the registered owners of the bank accounts that the funds were transferred to, he added.

Col Sarawut explained that many scam gangs were now presenting themselves as police officers in extorting money from their victims, and using fake LINE and Facebook groups set up to dupe their victims.

“I have ordered our officers to repeatedly post warnings about this on our Facebook page,” he said.

However, the scam that targeted Mr Gogniat stands out from the plethora of scam warnings from police and senior government officials in that the man who presented himself as a police officer was happy to show Mr Gogniat that he was in the full, correct uniform.

Phuket Town Police announced more than a month ago that the extortionist was not one of their officers.

However, they have yet to reveal whether Pongdanai Chaiya is a Royal Thai Police officer stationed anywhere else in the country.