Crime

CFO accused of Fleeing to Thailand after Stealing $2.7 million

Published

13 years ago

October 8, 2011

Bchcomber

MINTER Ellison's former South Australian chief financial officer is today expected to be charged with 203 counts of fraud, after being extradited from Sydney to Adelaide to face allegations he stole $2.7 million from the top-tier firm.

Police prosecutor Lisa Stamper yesterday told Adelaide Magistrates Court Craig Dean Raneberg, 46, had allegedly stolen the money during the 10 years he had worked for Minter Ellison’s South Australia/Northern Territory branch, before moving to Thailand.

“We see that the defendant is a serious flight risk due to the seriousness of offending, and also the money that he is alleged to have taken is still outstanding,” Senior Constable Stamper said.

Mr Raneberg was yesterday charged with six counts of dishonestly taking property without the owners’ consent.

Adelaide Magistrates Court is expected to hear more details about the 203 related charges next Thursday. The court yesterday heard that in the decade Mr Raneberg worked for the firm, he is alleged to have deleted records relating to the transfer of funds from equity partner accounts to bank accounts in his name.

It is understood that Minter Ellison did not have insurance for theft from partner accounts. Mr Raneberg is not alleged to have stolen from client accounts.

Mr Raneberg had worked for Minter Ellison until June 30, and had trained another staff member to take over his position.

On July 1, Mr Raneberg flew to Thailand, the day before he was officially made redundant.

He then stayed in Thailand for three months, and returned to Sydney last Friday to renew his visa.

The court heard Mr Raneberg spent 18 hours in Sydney, during which he renewed his visa, stayed overnight in a hotel and called his father, before using frequent-flyer points to obtain a return ticket to Thailand on Saturday. “When he was attempting to leave he was stopped by police and detained,” Senior Constable Stamper said.

A warrant for his extradition was approved on Tuesday and police accompanied Mr Raneberg back to Adelaide on Wednesday night. “Some of the 203 counts include major indictable matters for the sums that are outstanding,” she said.

Representing Mr Raneberg, duty solicitor Jessie MacGillivray said her client could have renewed his visa in Cambodia — a country that does not have an extradition treaty with Australia — but chose to return to Sydney to “find out what he was wanted for and speak to police”.

“He arrived back in Sydney, he was not apprehended, he went straight through arrivals,” Ms MacGillivray said.

Craig Raneberg's parents leave Adelaide Magistrates Court yesterday after their son's appearance Picture: Kelly Barnes Source: The Australian

“He assumed he was not wanted so he stayed in a motel in Sydney and spoke to his father.”

Ms MacGillivray told the court Mr Raneberg had no significant assets to pay for a bond if he were released on home detention bail. “He’s got no money in the bank . . . he’s got the title to his house but it has a mortgage . . . but the property has been frozen by civil action by Minter Ellison,” she said.

She said Mr Raneberg had tried to sell his inner-suburban Brompton house before it was frozen by Minter Ellison, putting it on the market the day he left Australia.

Ms MacGillivray said Mr Raneberg’s father Barry had agreed to act as a guarantor, including using his house for home detention purposes. Despite reserving his decision to grant bail, when magistrate Joseph Baldino said the guarantee amount would be $20,000, Barry Raneberg let out an audible, sharp gasp. “His parents aren’t in a position to lodge a cash surety . . . and Mr Raneberg doesn’t have any money,” Ms MacGillivray told the court.

She denied Mr Raneberg was a flight risk, considering police had already seized his passport and he did not have any money. “He only has ties to South Australia in Australia, he has no reason to go to a different state,” she said.

Mr Baldino ordered a home detention and bail inquiry report to allow the court to give proper consideration to releasing Mr Raneberg, who has been remanded in custody until next week, when the additional charges are likely to be heard.

Minter Ellison managing partner Nigel McBride said the matter was now in the hands of authorities, the Director of Public Prosecutions and the police and he could not comment further.

Mr Raneberg was treasurer of the Adelaide Fringe Festival board until last month, and has held positions with the South Australian Film Corporation and State Opera South Australia.

Verity Edwards
From: The Australian

Crime

Police Officer Being Ordained at Temple Arrested for Running Scam Call Center

Published

5 months ago

July 20, 2024

Thomas3940

Police Officer Being Ordained at Temple Arrested

Police in Northern Thailand have arrested a fellow officer as he was being ordained at a temple in Ngao district of neighbouring Lampang province.

Pol Lt Col Bandit Khonkan chief inspector from the Hang Dong police station was disrobed and taken to the Chang Puak station in Chiang Mai. He was arrested on charges of running a call centre scam gang in Chiang Mai Province.

According to Thai Media Chiang Mai Provincial Police Region 5 obtained an arrest warrant for Pol Lt Col Bandit on Friday from the Chiang Mai Provincial Court for procuring illegal telecom equipment, setting up a station and using public airwaves to run a telecommunications business without permission.

Pol Lt Col Bandit reportedly told investigators that he was not the ringleader and was only a member of the gang with Chinese partners.

His arrest followed the apprehension of his 26-year-old daughter, Miss Wanuchapond, 26, and three others during raids at three housing projects in Chiang Mai on Friday, Pol Maj Gen Weerachon Boontawee, deputy chief of Provincial Police Region 5 told Thai media.

During the raids police police discovered around 12 GSM gateways, or SIM boxes, which are devices used for converting cellular networks into mobile phone numbers used domestically.

The chief inspectors daughter Miss Wanuchapond told the arresting officers that she was paid 8,000 baht a month at each of the three locations for renting thr rooms and monitoring devices.

She claimed she had no idea what the devices were and accepted the job because the pay was attractive.

Police investigators working with telecom regulators used a special tracking device to monitor the gang’s communications and learned that its base was in Myanmar opposite Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai.

The call center gang used the GSM gateways to make calls over the internet to scam people in Thailand out of million of baht.

The GSM gateways transmitting signals via SIM boxes to convert them into domestic phone numbers, duping victims into thinking they were being called from Thai government agencies.

Pol Maj Gen Weerachon said that each SIM box held 32 SIM cards, with a capacity of up to 300,000 calls a month. The seized devices had made fraudulent calls over 3.6 million times.

He said the their investigation is ongoing and they are working to track down the remaining conspirators, including Chinese and other Thai suspects.

Authorities are still deciding whether Pol Lt Col Bandit will be dismissed from the force, he said, adding that so far, no other officers are known to have been involved.

Police in Chiang Rai Launch Crackdown on Cyber Criminals in Golden Triangle

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Settha Thavisin has authorized the establishment of an emergency cyber center operated by the Royal Thai Police to combat transnational crimes committed by call center gangs along the Thai border in Chiang Rai province.

On July 19, Prime Minister Settha Thavisin directed the Center to combat information technology crimes. The Royal Thai Police (Royal Thai Police) will crack down on call center gangs in Myanmar, Laos, and along the border.

His directive comes as call center gangs ratchet up their scams to defraud people of their money, causing concern among Thais and jeopardizing the country’s economic and social stability.

Related Police News:

Machete Wielding Man Shot an Killed by Police in Chiang Rai

https://www.chiangraitimes.com/chiangrai-news/machete-wielding-man-shot-an-killed-by-police-in-chiang-rai/

Crime

Thai Immigration Police Arrest Colombian Tourists Over Home Invasions

Published

5 months ago

July 20, 2024

Thomas3940

Thai Immigration Police Arrest Colombian Tourist

Immigration police officers have arrested four Colombian nationals in connection with a series of home burglaries at luxury housing complexes in the Bangkok metropolitan area and Chiang Buri Province.

Pol Maj Gen Panthana Nuchanart, deputy commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, told a press briefing that three of the suspects were apprehended in Nonthaburi Province and the fourth in South Pattaya, Chon Buri Province.

According to the Bangkok Post, the Colombians were charged with stealing conspiracy and seized around 3 million baht (US$82,500.00).

According to Pol Maj Gen Panthana, the criminals rode motorcycles through housing estates, scoping out the properties and waiting for the owners to depart before committing their crimes.

He stated that all four of the accused denied any involvement in the home break-ins, but the arresting squad discovered evidence that implicated them.

Police called to home invasion

Meanwhile, police were dispatched to a luxury housing development in Tambon Nong Prue, Chonburi Province, after a Chinese man was attacked during a house invasion.

When they arrived, they discovered the house owner, Mr. Qian Peng Yi, visibly scared and with marks from being tied up with a cable. He informed police that three Chinese males broke into his home at 9 p.m., one of whom brandished a gun at him and directed him to his bedroom.

They bound his hands and feet, gagged him with fabric, taped his head, and forced him into the bed. The intruders then attempted to compel him into transferring 10 million baht in cryptocurrencies to them, endangering the life of his 33-year-old cousin who was in a second-floor bedroom.

While they scoured the house in search of riches, Mr. Peng Yi managed to flee and hide; he subsequently observed them leave with his cousin. Officials investigated the property and analyzed security camera footage from the incident and surrounding areas.

Around 9 p.m., a 30-year-old van driver came at the Bang Lamung police station after being contacted by an agency to carry Chinese customers from Pattaya to Suvarnabhumi Airport.

The driver informed authorities that he was supposed to pick them up at a motel about a kilometer from the Chinese businessman’s home. He then drove them to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport, arriving at 1 a.m. and receiving 1,800 baht.

The driver took a snapshot of the group smoking at the airport gate and identified one of them as the victim’s cousin. Police suspected coordination between her and the three suspects in her cousin’s heist, who all departed Thailand on the same aircraft.

Other Bangkok News:

Police in Bangkok Discover Six Vietnamese Tourists Dead in 5 Star Hotel

Police in Bangkok Discover Six Vietnamese Tourists Dead in 5 Star Hotel

Crime

Son of Thailand’s Leading Legal Scholar on Corruption Arrested for Running Online Gambling Network

Published

5 months ago

July 17, 2024

Thomas3940

The son of a former senator and leading economist and expert on corruption and gambling in Thailand has been arrested for on charges of running an online gambling network and its payment system.

Police from Thailand’s Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) have confiscated assets worth more than (US$ 11.1 million) 400 million baht.

Narote Piriyarangsan, 33, was arrested following crackdowns in three sites around the city, according to Pol Maj Gen Athip Pongsiwapai, commander of the police Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD).

Mr Narote’s father, Sangsit Piriyarangsan, is an economist who has written articles and books about corruption and gambling. He was one of the appointed senators that were investigating the government’s intention to legalize casino gaming before their terms expired.

Police also detained 39-year-old Narayut Narakaew, the owner of the gambling website 69pgslot.com. The Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for the couple for operating an internet gambling service and money laundering.

According to the Bangkok Post, police seized two desktop computers, one laptop computer, 14 mobile phones, 21 bank passbooks, 53 ATM cards, and four high-end cars — a Ferrari 926 GTS, an Aston Martin, a Lexus, and a Subaru — totaling more than 400 million baht.

Police launched the inquiry after discovering the online gambling site, which accepted funds via an automatic deposit-withdrawal system through bank accounts and deposits in the AskMePay system. Players scanned the VPay QR code as well as the QR codes for Heng Online 888 or Heng Pay Company.

Police also discovered that payments received via QR code scans were transferred to the account of Heng Pay Co and then to the gambling website’s mule accounts using AskMePay, which did not use banks’ face recognition scanning. An inquiry indicated a monthly turnover of approximately 5 billion baht.

According to investigators, the website has been up and running for around four years, with the payment mechanism in use for roughly eight months.

According to Pol Maj Gen Athip, Mr Narote owns the gaming website’s payment systems and is the director of Heng Pay Co. After gathering evidence, authorities requested arrest warrants for 14 people.

Thailand does not allow almost any kind of gaming. Even though the law doesn’t say anything specific about online gaming, it is still considered gambling. The country has pretty strict rules about gambling. Thai punters can bet on the national lottery and horse races, but they can’t bet on any other types of games.

But it’s not a secret that there is a huge illegal gaming business in Thailand, even though it’s illegal.

The illegal casinos, online betting shops, underground lotteries, and pop-up bookies that take bets on everything from cockfights to Muay Thai make a shadow economy that is worth billions of dollars every year.