Crime

Thailand’s Appeals Court Approves Cambodia Extradition of British National David Fletcher on a Rape Charge

British national David John Fletcher is handcuffed before being ltaken to the Appeals Court on Wednesday. He was ordered extradited to Cambodia to serve a rape conviction sentence

BANGKOK – Thailand’s Appeals Court has approved the extradition of a 67-year-old British charity organizer sought by Cambodian authorities after being convicted in absentia on a rape charge.

David John Fletcher, who ran a charity for children called the Rubbish Dump Project in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, was convicted in absentia for the rape of a 17-year-old Cambodian girl. He was sentenced in May 2011 to 10 years in prison.

Fletcher was arrested in Bangkok in 2010 after fleeing from Cambodia. The Criminal Court approved an extradition request in 2011, but Fletcher appealed.

On Wednesday, the Appeals Court judge denied the appeal, saying Fletcher’s prosecution did not violate human rights principles.

He is to be extradited to Cambodia within 90 days of Wednesday’s ruling.

The David Fletcher Story

They say life always catches up with you in the end. The exact moment it caught up with David Fletcher was on 22nd April 2010 at 15:15 in the afternoon when a SG8 reader looked at a small advertisement on the web site of a bar in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The bar, the web site and the advertisement belonged to David Fletcher, whom she knew well.

David Fletcher, born in Littleport in 1946, successfully ran a series of hairdressing salons in Cambridge and Saffron Walden was convicted at Norwich Crown Court in July 1997 of the statutory rape of a 15-yr-old girl, whom he first plied with champagne and to whom he offered £250 cash for sex. He also admitted possessing offensive weapons, two pepper sprays and two canisters of CS gas. He was jailed for eighteen months.

David Fletchers Ad for donations

On completion of his sentence Fletcher briefly returned to hairdressing but soon discovered that the “blue rinse” ladies of Saffron Walden had deserted him and the business promptly went bust.

Down on his luck, David Fletcher eventually secured employment with a well-known Royston company and took up residence at 12 Portway, Melbourn SG8. All went well for several years until he was informed his services were no longer required. The reason was making improper suggestions to female customers. By this time, any attempt to gain similar employment required a criminal record check which he knew he could not pass so he upped sticks and moved to South East Asia, eventually surfacing in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where he opened a bar named Bogie & Bacal’s.

Bogie & Bacall’s never flourished partly due to Fletcher’s uncanny knack of alienating and repulsing practically anyone he came into contact with and partly because the business was not financially viable. It soon ran into debt.

‘Fletch the Letch’, as he had come to be known soon came up with the ideal solution. He, his British partner and two Australians started a children’s charity, thus providing himself with funds and access to young girls at the same time. They called it the Volunteer Project with the stated aim of feeding starving children living on Phnom Penh’s notorious Stung Mean Chey rubbish dump. Things quickly went sour again when the two Aussies began to suspect Fletcher’s intentions.

Fletch’s perverted scheme going on under their noses, launched a full investigation.

Said one of them, retiree Ross Wright: “We decided to go our own way. He never once showed us the bank account into which donations were going. There were tens of thousands of dollars unaccounted for. Cash was coming in from Rotary Clubs and big private donors, but we never saw any of it. We also had complaints of him being too familiar with young girls.”

Fletcher carried on regardless and placed an advert on his bar’s web site appealing for cash to be sent to his own bank account. By this stage his activities had started to attract the attention of other expats who began posting on the internet discussion board Khmer440 expressing their concerns. What was clear, however, was that none of them had the slightest idea that Fletcher was a convicted child rapist.

There was no proof to be found online as his crimes were committed prior to the internet’s invention but SG8 researchers spent days searching through microfilm in the local library and eventually found the damning evidence. A decision was made to involve a widely respected investigative journalist who had connections with the British press in order to gain maximum exposure. To that end Andrew Drummond was contacted to see if he wanted to take up the story. He and his photographer arrived in Phnom Penh less that a week later and spent a day with Fletcher posing as interested, if somewhat gullible, tourists. Their report appeared as a two page spread under the headline ‘British Paedo Running Kid’s Charity in Cambodia” in the Sunday Mirror the following weekend. Fletcher’s career as a perverted fraudster in South-East Asia was all but over.

Sensing the danger he was now in, Fletcher assured his creditors that they would be paid in full but within three days had fled the country surfacing once more in Bangkok, Thailand. He was arrested by the Thai authorities on June 23rd 2010, one day after his arrival in the country, for immigration offenses (specifically – failing to declare his previous convictions on his immigration arrival card). Such was the speed of his arrest in Bangkok that there can be no doubt that the Thai Police were tipped off about him or any doubt that he was being watched from the moment he crossed the Thai border. He was taken to Bangkok’s notorious Immigration Detention Centre to await deportation to The United Kingdom.

Meanwhile in Phnom Penh, the police, somewhat embarrassed by their failure to notice Fletch’s perverted scheme going on under their noses, launched a full investigation. A team of British police officers from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre flew out to assist. On the day Fletcher was due to fly back to Britain the Cambodian authorities lodged a request with the Thais to have him extradited back to Cambodia to answer, among other things, child rape charges.

Fletcher wasted no time in filing an appeal against his extradition using the ludicrous excuse that he was being set up by money launderers who he had fallen out with. The judge dismissed his claim, ruling that he should be returned to Cambodia, subject to one further appeal. Fletcher remains in prison in Bangkok awaiting his final hearing.

Back in Cambodia nobody wanted to wait for Fletcher to reappear and in May 2011 he was convicted in absentia and sentenced to ten years in prison with a $5000 fine. – By Glen Dairyman

Crime

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

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

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

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.