Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn, the deputy national police, is in Cambodia today (Tuesday) to seek cooperation from police there in the arrests of nine Thai and Chinese suspects working in a call centre gang.
They allegedly involved in the deaths of three Thai family members and the attempted suicide of the family head. Surachate had with them arrest warrants issued by a Thai court.
The Cambodia-based call centre scam came to light when a man in Samut Prakan killed his wife and two children with a knife and attempted to commit suicide with the same knife at their house on August 28. The man survived the suicide bid.
Police investigators discovered that the wife had taken out a loan from an online platform, operated by the gang, which promised free interest. The gang later charged her exorbitant interest, until her debt ballooned to about 1.7 million baht. Her husband had to mortgage their house, but still could not cover the debt. In desperation, he decided to kill his loved ones and commit suicide.
One woman who opened a “mule” bank account for the gang was arrested at a border checkpoint in Aranyaprathet on August 30th, when she tried to escape to Cambodia.
Pol Gen Surachate told the media that he hopes for good cooperation from the Cambodian police.
He also met with the Thai ambassador in Cambodia to discuss how to help several Thai nationals who were tricked into working for call centre gangs in the country.
