4 of 7 suspects arrested for 3.4 million baht robbery in Bangkok car park
Suspects accuse victims of running gambling den and money laundering
Police arrested four out of seven suspects who robbed three victims of 3.4 million baht in the car park of a shopping mall in Bangkok’s Lat Phrao area on Monday, June 30.
A seven-member criminal gang lured the three victims into exchanging 3.4 million baht in cash for 100,000 USDT in cryptocurrency at the shopping mall. The victims were then led to the car park, where the gang threatened them with knives and firearms before fleeing with the cash.
The victims disclosed that one of the suspects was a transgender agent who had previously facilitated two cryptocurrency exchanges for them. Trusting her, they followed all her instructions.
Officers from Phahonyothin Police Station arrested two of the suspects the following day, July 1, at a rented room in the central province of Pathum Thani. The two were identified as 25 year old Cherphat Deeduangphan and 31 year old Nana Mukpradap. Police seized 1.9 million baht in cash and a gold necklace valued at 10 million baht from the pair.
The suspects revealed the identities of the five remaining accomplices to the officers including, 28 year old Nanthawat Sonsongklin, 26 year old Ananchai Maneechot, 32 year old Rungnirun Chomphat, 35 year old Ball Laoboonma, and 43 year old Worrawat Cheumkaew.
Worrawat, also known as Poon or Seu Poon, is believed to be the leader of the gang. He reportedly has a lengthy criminal history involving drug offences and robbery. He was recently released from prison after serving a sentence for stealing police funds during a sting operation involving 50 kilogrammes of crystal meth.
Cherphat and Nana claimed that the stolen money was illegally obtained. They alleged the victims were operating an illegal gambling den and laundering the proceeds through cryptocurrency.
Police later arrested two more suspects, including Ananchai and Nanthawat. Nanthawat attempted to evade arrest by climbing onto the roof of his house but fell and sustained injuries.
All arrested suspects claimed they had not been involved in planning the robbery and were merely following orders from Worrawat.
Worrawat and the remaining two suspects are believed to have fled to Cambodia via a border crossing in Sa Kaeo province in northeastern Thailand.
Police have not yet confirmed whether the victims were running an illegal gambling operation or laundering money, as alleged by the suspects.
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