Thai police officer arrested for using car stolen from Malaysia
Officers arrested a senior police sergeant major for using a car stolen from Malaysia yesterday at the suspect’s condominium in Bangkok.
Officers from the Vehicle Theft Suppression Centre of the Royal Thai Police (RTP) and Bang Khan Police Station arrested the 50 year old police senior sergeant, Aisoon, at his condominium in the Bang Khan district yesterday. The stolen car, a black Toyota Hilux pickup, two fake registration plates, a mobile phone, and a phone signal jammer device were seized.
The arrest was made following a complaint from a car rental owner in Malaysia. The owner reported that a Malaysian man had rented the pickup from him in Kuala Lumpur. However, the car’s GPS showed that it was moving across the country toward Thailand on March 27.
After tracking the pickup, an officer found it was parked at a Bangkok condominium on March 28 and discovered that the driver was Aisoon, who denied all theft allegations.
Aisoon was initially charged with violating Sections 265 and 268 of the Criminal Act by forging government documents and using counterfeit government documents. The charge will result in imprisonment from six months to five years and a fine from 10,000 to 100,000 baht.
According to the RTP, Aisoon is believed to be involved in a car smuggling gang. As such, further questioning and investigation will be conducted to crack down on the entire network.
Several vehicle thefts have been reported in Malaysia since January, and the destination of the stolen vehicles was Thailand, with some cases linked to RTP officers.
In January, a Malaysian man named Zack accused Thai police officers of extorting money in exchange for his car that was stolen from Malaysia.
Zack said he rented his car to a man in Kuala Lumpur, but later discovered his car in Narathiwat province in the southern part of Thailand. He had to travel to the province to get it back and even had to pay 3,000 Malaysian ringgit, about 23,000 baht, to the Thai police officers to retrieve it.
