Thailand police arrest woman tied to 50 million baht fraud case

Royal Thai Police swooped to arrest a 55 year old woman implicated in a public fraud case involving over 50 million baht in damages, in Songkhla, a southern province in Thailand. Tawanna Tarawasant is implicated in a public fraud case involving over 50 million baht in damages. The arrest took place in the district of Rattaphum, specifically in the Khuan Ru subdistrict on Friday.

Leading the arrest operation was Police Major General Supakorn Chanthabutr, commander of the Special Service Division. Arrest warrants for Tawanna were issued by both the Surat Thani and Phuket Provincial Courts on charges of public fraud and entering false data into a computer system.

Tawanna’s alleged fraudulent activities revolved around her creating mule bank accounts. These accounts were used by scammers to trick victims into purchasing non-existent products online.

Despite the charges and her arrest, Tawanna denied any involvement in the fraudulent activities. She claimed that she had opened a bank account for a friend running a construction materials firm in Surat Thani years ago, unaware that the friend was engaged in fraudulent activities. Tawanna was previously arrested and jailed for fraud in 2018 and was released in 2022.

During her incarceration, she encountered others who claimed they had been deceived by her friend into opening mule accounts. Tawanna claimed ignorance of the additional arrest warrants against her until the police arrived at her residence. She insisted that she had not swindled anyone and made a living by selling artwork online.

However, Tawanna’s criminal record revealed five arrest warrants issued for public fraud. Two of these warrants were from the Mueang Police Station in Udon Thani, two more from the Mueang Police Station in Surat Thani, and another from the Mueang Police Station in Phuket.

The police estimate that the damages incurred from the opening of mule accounts for scammers amount to approximately 50 million baht. Following her arrest, Tawanna was handed over to the police in Surat Thani for further legal proceedings.

Investigations are ongoing, with the authorities seeking to apprehend those who employed Tawanna to open the fraudulent mule accounts, reported Bangkok Post.