BANGKOK: Thai cyber police have arrested a 26-year-old man after a court issued a warrant over a purported THB7 million bank-transfer slip posted by the Facebook page Godd Dam and linked to Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.
The man, identified only as Chairat, arrived with lawyers from Thai Lawyers for Human Rights at the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau’s Technology Crime Investigation Division 1 on Wednesday (Oct 28).
Police took him into custody at about 11.40am at the Government Complex in Bangkok after the court approved an arrest warrant.
Pol Lt Gen Tinnakorn Rangmat, Commissioner of the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau, said investigators had gathered evidence before applying to the court for the warrant.
When reporters asked whether he owned the Godd Dam Facebook page, Chairat replied: “No, I don’t.”
He did not answer further questions about who operated the page, whether he had acted as an administrator or whether he knew anything about the disputed transfer slip.
His lawyers said they had accompanied him to meet investigators voluntarily and wanted to review the allegations and circumstances of the case before commenting further.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights describes itself as an organisation providing legal assistance in cases involving civil and political rights.
Police said the warrant covers two categories of alleged offences.
The first involves dishonestly or fraudulently entering distorted, forged or false computer data into a computer system in a manner likely to cause damage to another person or the public, affect national security or cause public panic under the Computer Crime Act.
The second concerns the alleged forgery and use of a forged document in circumstances capable of causing damage to another person or the public.
The allegations remain subject to investigation and court proceedings, and Chairat has not admitted being the owner of the Facebook page.
The case stems from a post by Godd Dam showing what purported to be a transfer receipt for THB7 million to an account bearing Anutin’s name.
The accompanying message described the payment as “tea money”, a Thai expression commonly used to refer to an unofficial payment or bribe.
Kasikornbank subsequently said it could not find the recipient account number shown in the image in its system.
The bank also said transfers through its K PLUS mobile banking application are limited to THB5 million per day, below the THB7 million shown on the circulated image.
Anutin has denied the allegation and said he reserved the right to take legal action to protect his rights and reputation.
Police had earlier sought an arrest warrant in the case but gathered additional evidence after the initial application was returned for further information before making a fresh application on Wednesday. - The Nation/ANN
