Police have arrested a man who allegedly stole his ex-boss’s ATM card and somehow used it 248 times to withdraw more THB6.5 million (US$208,737) for himself.
The suspect, Witoon Buamdee, 37, was placed under arrest in Phuket on Tuesday night.
In making the arrest, police seized at the home a shotgun, a homemade firearm, and a factory-made pistol.
The hunt for Witoon began last month after Chalong Police received a complaint on March 1, police noted in their report of the arrest.
That complaint reported that someone had stolen an ATM card from a house in Chalong and used it to illegally withdraw money from a victim’s bank account.
The ensuing police investigation after the complaint was received was taken over by Col. Akanit Danpitaksarn of the Phuket Provincial Police, who discovered through ATM CCTV footage that Witoon had made at least one of the withdrawals.
Witoon was later identified as a former employee of the victim, who police did not name in their report.
The victim told police the ATM card went missing on Dec 16, 2017, though no explanation was given as to why the card was not canceled then, or canceled when the victim first noticed unauthorized withdrawals being made from his bank accounts.
Police did not report what the victim’s line of work is or what function Witoon performed while employed by the victim.
In total, 248 withdrawals were made using the card, resulting in over THB6 million being taken from the victim’s account, police said.
The police report noted that Witoon was “involved with drugs and weapons,” but failed to report any drugs seized in placing Witoon under arrest.
Witoon told police that the three weapons seized all belonged to him, and that he had them to protect himself.
The report also made no mention of where the money went, though police did note that officers took Witoon into custody for further questioning.
Story: The Phuket News
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