Crime

Inquest finds Army Bullet Killed Italian Photographer Fabio Polenghi

Published

12 years ago

May 29, 2013

Bchcomber

Fabio Polenghi, 48, was killed when troops moved in to disperse “red shirt” supporters

BANGKOK – Italian photographer Fabio Polenghi killed while covering the Thai military’s crackdown on anti-government protesters in Bangkok three years ago was shot by a high-velocity bullet like those issued to soldiers, a judge said Wednesday.

The inquest said it was unknown who fired the bullet and stopped short of outright blaming the military. Rights groups have repeatedly called for Thailand’s government to hold the powerful army accountable for its part in the violence.

Elisabetta Polenghi, younger sister of Italian photographer Fabio Polenghi, gives a Thai way ‘Wai” to express thanks in front of Thai media at the South Criminal Court in Bangkok

A Bangkok South Criminal Court judge said that the inquest into the death of 48-year-old Fabio Polenghi showed the fatal shot “was fired from the direction of security forces” who were mobilized to quash the demonstration in central Bangkok.

It was likely Polenghi was killed by a bullet from the .223 cartridge which was used with M-16 and HK33 rifles issued to soldiers on the ground that day, the inquest said.

The findings were a stark reminder of a battle fought between the Red Shirt protesters and the government under then-Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, which led to at least 91 deaths during the two months of demonstrations on the streets of Bangkok in 2010, and of a political divide that remains in the country.

Polenghi was shot as he tried to take pictures of the army’s assault on the Red Shirt encampment.

Testimonies from the inquest that began last July showed the bullet went in Polenghi’s back and came through his left chest. The judge said the bullet went through his heart, lung and liver, causing excessive bleeding until he died at the hospital on May 19, 2010.

Born in Italy in 1962, Polenghi had been a fashion photographer for many years but was transitioning to news.

Elisabetta Polenghi, 48, his younger sister, was among 13 witnesses who testified in the court case. She was accompanied by her mother and her elder sister to hear the court’s order on Wednesday.

“It was positive but it’s not the solution,” Elisabetta Polenghi said of the inquest’s results. “The solution will come when the responsible will be asked to go out of their duty, away from position that can hurt people.”

Fabio’s sister would like to find this man, NOT for the equipment itself but to see what the last photographs Fabio took were and to see if the man would be willing to testify to the events of that day.

The Polenghi case is the eighth inquest initiated by Thai authorities to seek the cause of deaths of those killed in the violence. The court previously ruled that five people were killed by guns used by military personnel, while two inquests were inconclusive on who committed the killings.

Abhisit’s government approved the use of live ammunition under limited conditions and deployed sharpshooters and snipers during the demonstration.

The Red Shirt-allied government that succeeded Abhisit’s agreed last year to pay compensation to all the victims of violence in order to promote political reconciliation.

Rights groups have repeatedly called for the government to hold the army accountable.

“It’s the first step towards achieving justice in this case and we’re encouraged that the judges effectively acknowledged that the bullet came from state security forces,” said Shawn Crispin, a Southeast Asia’s representative of the non-profit Committee to Protect Journalists. “It’s clear that the family of Fabio is going to fight this and will effectively try to establish and hold to account those at the highest ranks of the chains of command that ordered soldiers to shoot that day.”

Thai authorities have a long history of shielding military personnel from prosecution in political bloodsheds in recent decades.

Polenghi’s lawyer Karom Polpornklang said Wednesday the inquest will be used in a future court case against Abhisit and his then-deputy Suthep Thaugsuban, who controlled a joint government-military centre that ran the operation ending the protests.

“It has to be proven that the orders for the security forces to move in … came from Mr. Suthep and Mr. Abhisit. They cannot deny their responsibility and cannot be dismissed in this case,” Karom told reporters. “Or else an incident like this will happen again.”

The Department of Special Investigation began a murder investigation of Abhisit and Suthep last year, but charges have not been brought to court.

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.