German expat on top after robbed over iPhone sex swap
PHUKET: Two women have been charged for robbing a German expat after he allegedly reneged on a deal to buy one of them an iPhone and clothes in exchange for sex.
Rattriya Sirijumpa, 25, and Nongluck Homhuan, 26, were arrested at Tina Salon in Thalang on Saturday, after police spotted the German’s stolen car in front of Ms Rattriya’s salon.
The arrests followed Wolfgang Gerhard Helmut Dehl-Buntha, 62, filing two separate complaints of theft.
“On January 23, he reported that several items had been stolen from his house in Soi Patak in Karon,” Lt Col Ason Jiraksa of the Karon Police said.
Mr Dehl-Buntha reported that two iPhone 4s, three Buddhist amulets and a gold necklace, worth more than 92,500 baht, as well as 10,000 baht cash and the key to his car, had been stolen.
“On February 2, he woke to find his car was gone. He then reported that stolen, too,” Col Ason said.
Mr Dehl-Buntha told police that on January 23 he went to the airport, where he met Ms Nongluck at about 8pm.
“They went to his house in Karon. Ms Rattriya joined them, but followed them in her own car,” explained Col Ason.
All three drank beer at the house for about an hour, before Ms Rattriya left. Ms Nongluck stayed overnight.
“At about 8am the next day, Mr Dehl-Buntha and Ms Nongluck had breakfast together before going back to bed at about 10am,” Col Ason told the Phuket Gazette.
“He said he woke up again at about midday and found that Ms Nongluck was gone, along with many of his valuables.”
Police checked footage from CCTV cameras in the area and saw that Ms Rattriya’s Toyota Altis was nearby on both days that Mr Del-Buntha was robbed.
“Officers tracked down where the two suspects lived and worked,” Col Ason said. “At about 6pm on Saturday, officers spotted a black Toyota Camry with a red licence plate parked in front Ms Rattriya’s salon.
“Ms Rattriya claimed that the car was hers, but police checked the engine number, which matched the number of Mr Del-Buntha’s stolen car.”
The women were taken to Karon Police Station to be questioned. The pair told police that Ms Nongluck knew Mr Dehl-Buntha from chatting online through the social-media application Badoo.
“They were chatting online for two weeks before meeting at the airport,” said Col Ason.
“Mr Dehl-Buntha promised to buy Ms Nongluck an iPhone and clothes if she agreed to be his girlfriend. The morning after they had slept together, she asked him to keep his promise.
“Apparently, he ignored her after some grumbling. So, she called Ms Rattriya to pick her up and decided to teach Mr Dehl-Buntha a lesson.”
Ms Rattriya and Ms Nongluck were both charged with theft.
— Kritsada Mueanhawong
