Bank worker and spouse accused of embezzling 36 million baht, they say it’s a lie!
A bank worker and her spouse are accused of embezzling 36 million Thai baht from bank clients. The suspects deny the claims against them.
Yesterday, Lata, the 33 year old bank employee, and Pharanyu, her 36 year old partner, were apprehended at a condominium located on Din Daeng Road in Bangkok’s Ratchathewi district.
Lata faces charges for violating Section 335 of the Criminal Law, which states that anyone who steals assets belonging to an employer can be punished with a prison sentence ranging from one to five years, along with a fine of 20,000 to 100,000 Thai Baht.
Pharanyu, on the other hand, is charged with violating Section 357 of the Criminal Law, which states that anyone who assists in concealing, selling, buying, or taking away stolen assets can be sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison, a fine of up to 10,000 Thai Baht, or both.
A police report states that two construction contractor companies were paying off their debts by depositing cheques at the bank where Lata was working. The total value of the cheques was 36.2 million baht. While on duty, Lata received the cheques but instead of depositing the money into the accounts specified by the customers, it is alleged she deposited it into her boyfriend’s bank account.
The victims filed a complaint to the Economic Crime Suppression Division (ECD) after the bank notified them to pay their debts, again.
Lata and Pharanyu deny all allegations and are now under questioning with ECD 5.
According to Makepisarn Siphirom, an ECD officer, Lata utilized her insider information to transfer the funds to her boyfriend’s bank account. Makepisarn emphasized that the police have gathered sufficient evidence to prosecute the accused, despite their denial of involvement in the fraud.
Recently, several financial scams have been reported.
One case involved a 52-year-old deputy director of a bank in Bangkok who stole over 2 million Thai baht from an 80-year-old customer’s account by deceiving her into signing a cash withdrawal form.
Another instance involved a 16-year-old girl in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat who reported a loss of 510,100 baht from her account three months prior, without any leads. The teenager suspects the disappearance was due to a bank application that was registered by a bank employee on the day she opened the account, but the bank has not provided any official statement.
These reports of financial scams have caused widespread concern among the public, with many people now viewing banks as unreliable places to keep their money. People are calling on relevant authorities to pay attention to scam suppression and take the necessary steps to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
