Two African con men that swindled a hotel owner out of THB200,000 were arrested in Bangkok recently by Thailand’s Crime Suppression Division (CSD).
The gang was attempting to pull the classic “black money” scheme using counterfeit US dollars, the Pattaya Daily News reported.
The men – Liberian citizen Dorbor Tarnue and Sierra Leonean citizen George Emmanuel – allegedly convinced Phayathai’s Cozy Villa hotel owner Thep Jantornvattana that they had access to USD5 million in cash in a safety deposit box. The cash had been dyed black to avoid detection by customs though, and the men said they needed and investment of THB500,000 to get the solvent which could clear up the money for use and for “processing and shipping costs” of accessing the cash.
Thep paid them THB200,000 and had an appointment to pay the remaining THB300,000, but then realized he was being suckered and went to the police instead.
Police arrested the suspects and confiscated two passports, paper coated with liquid, two safes, and counterfeiting equipment to make fake US dollars.
Tarnue and Emmanual reportedly confessed to the crime at Phayathai Police Station.
Upon checking Tarnue’s record, police found that he had previously been arrested for the same “black money” scam in 2009 for cheating two Thais, one Malaysian, and a Singaporean.
He had been deported out of Thailand at the time, but somehow made it back into the country to con people again.
