Woman who stole over 250 million baht from sick mother sentenced to 12 years

A Bangkok woman who stole 253 million baht from her elderly sick mother has been jailed for 12 years. The Bangkok Post reports that 55 year old Mawadi Siwirat stole the money from her 84 year old mother, named as Huay Siwirat, while she was receiving hospital treatment for a heart condition. Mawadi pled guilty and was found guilty on 6 counts of theft. According to the report, the court did not suspend the sentence due to the severity of the crime.

The theft came to light when a lawyer for Huay petitioned the Anti-Money Laundering Office to look into financial transactions made on his client account. Ananchai Chaiyadet made the request, along with Huay’s grand-daughter, Mintra Siwirat, in February of last year. The Bangkok Post reports that 6 other suspects were accused of money laundering, theft, and embezzlement on the same petition.

According to the petition, Huay’s bank had refused to disclose any details about the suspicious transactions. Ananchai says Huay would normally sign for any withdrawals but in the case of the suspicious transactions, her fingerprints were used instead.

A police investigation revealed that Mawadi was behind the transactions, with the involvement of a number of bank employees. However, according to police, all the money was taken by Mawadi.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post