Bogus bucks: 2 Thai men nabbed for selling fake US dollar bills, 1 suspect still at large

Crime Suppression Division (CSD) officers arrested two Thai men for selling fake US dollar bills at a petrol station in the Isaan province of Buriram. Another suspect successfully evaded arrest and remains at large.

Police in Buriram province received several reports about the use of counterfeit US dollar banknotes and discovered that most of the fake bills allegedly came from three Thai men, 51 year old Achirathon Wongchaosiriluck, 61 year old Somsak Makpoon, and Panya.

Officers then posed as customers and booked an appointment to buy the fake notes via the LINE application. They made an appointment at a petrol station in the Non Dindaeng district of Buriram province. Three Thai men arrived at the petrol station in separate cars but only Achirathon and Somsak came to meet officers.

Achirathon and Somsak handed a red shoulder bag containing counterfeit banknotes to officers. The fake bills included 800 US$100 bills valued at US$80,000. The two sold them for 200,000 baht.

Following the criminal action, officers immediately arrested the two men. Panya, who was monitoring the situation in a nearby car, noticed the arrest and managed to flee the scene. During interrogation, Achirathon and Somsak claimed that Panya produced the fake banknotes, and they were just his employees responsible for finding customers.

The two were charged under Section 244 of the Criminal Law: possessing counterfeit currency. The penalty is imprisonment from one to five years and a fine from 20,000 to 300,000 baht.

A similar crime was reported in November last year when a Thai woman was arrested at a hotel in Bangkok for the production of fake dollar bills. Officers found 763 counterfeit US$100 banknotes and production tools in her room.

The woman confessed to buying the tools and learning how to make the counterfeit bills from a foreign man. The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) officers conducted further investigation to arrest the said foreigner, but the update on the operation was not made public.