Police have seized assets worth more than 700 million baht and arrested three suspects, including a former TV actress, for allegedly operating an online gambling operation and for streaming pornographic movies.
Pol Lt-Gen Jirabhop Bhuridej, commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), told the media on Friday that the CIB have been investigating the gang for about two years. Once they had amassed sufficient evidence, they sought search warrants for the premises in which the illegal activities were thought to be operated and for the arrests of eight people, believed to be the key members of the gang.
The three suspects arrested were identified as Bhumipat, his wife Thamonphan, a former actress, and Chetchai.
The impounded assets include four houses, 12 luxury cars, 42 million baht in cash and many luxury wristwatches and otherbrand name products.
The CIB commissioner said that the illegal online gambling operation had more than 40,000 customers and the monthly financial transactions are estimated at about 7 billion baht.
He said that police checked the taxation records of the three suspects with the Revenue Department and discovered that their declared earnings were insufficient to support their acquisition of the seized assets.
The three suspects were charged with operating online gambling without permission and money laundering. They were escorted to the Criminal Court yesterday (Friday) to seek a court order to have them detained pending investigation. Their bail applications were denied.
