Police chief targets mule accounts, promises 12-hour unlock for innocents
The police chief has ordered checks on mule accounts and pledged to unlock innocent accounts within 12 hours, starting today, stressing the process will not burden the public.
Police chief Pol Gen Kitrat Panphet chaired a meeting on Tuesday (September 16) at the Royal Thai Police headquarters to coordinate with relevant agencies on assisting people whose bank accounts have been frozen or transactions blocked due to suspected links with cybercrime.
Kitrat clarified that the measure should be described as “suspension” of only the portion of funds linked to criminal activity, not a full account freeze.
He explained that relevant agencies would review the flagged transactions, after which innocent account holders could prove their identity through four details: full name, ID card number, bank account number, and the bank’s name.
“If verification confirms no link to wrongdoing, the account will be unlocked within half a day,” he said, adding that the new procedure would be effective immediately.
Victims can report the matter to police in their local area, and the process is designed to confirm identity rather than shift the burden onto the public.
Investigators will coordinate with the Police Cyber Taskforce (PCT) before submitting cases to the Anti-Online Scam Operation Centre (AOC), which oversees major cases. The police will apply lessons from previous large-scale investigations to ensure speed and efficiency.
The new measures are also intended to ease pressure on the AOC, which currently lacks sufficient hotlines to handle the volume of complaints.
The Royal Thai Police has instructed hotlines 191 and 1559 to step in and assist victims of financial crime.
Kitrat acknowledged that the new process has placed heavier burdens on investigators nationwide, as they face an increasing number of case files linked to evolving forms of cybercrime.
He said the Royal Thai Police must urgently address this through internal management reforms, including the possibility of increasing the number of investigators to meet the demand.
Responding to public concerns that the account verification system could be exploited by criminals to “cleanse” their records or create new problems for victims, Kitrat insisted that preventive measures were in place to close loopholes. Over the past two days, police received around 1,300 hotline calls: 300 were verified as innocent, 1,000 could not be confirmed, and 30 accounts were unlocked.
Asked about allegations that some officers had solicited bribes to unlock frozen accounts, Kitrat urged anyone with evidence to come forward. “If payments are being demanded, we will examine whether they are in line with the law or regulations. If not, action will be taken without exception,” he said.
