Two suspects in Suphoth case appear in court

The court was also asked not to grant bail to Singthong Jaichomcheun and Saokaew Namwong on grounds that theirs was a serious crime.

The two men have been charged with joining four accomplices to break into the mansion of Suphoth Sublom, the permanent secretary of the Transport Ministry, on November 12.

Pol Colonel Thanes Wongsanga, superintendent of the Wang Thong Lang Police Station, said Suphoth hadn’t yet informed police how much money was pilfered.

However, Pol MajGeneral Winai Thongsong, commissioner of Metropolitan Police, said the haul might exceed Bt100 million.

Winai said police believe that another suspect, Prapan Ruangkrua, had made off with Bt9 million from the house and officers were dispatched to inspect 10 places in Bangkok and Ayutthaya. Prapan, who turned himself in on Wednesday, was scheduled to appear in court for a detention hearing today(Nov 25).

Winai said Prapan told police that he lent out all the Bt9 million to othersand was about to collect the debts.

Police were still gathering evidence and interviewing witnesses and would later summon Suphoth to give additional details. 

Suphoth reportedly told police initially that Bt5 million was missing after the heist, but police have seized Bt17.8 million from the suspects so far.

Winai said this has raised suspicions about how much money was actually stolen. 

He said the suspects in police custody claim that alleged gang leader Weerasak Chualee took Bt35 million in cash, gave Wanankrit Butkanha and Bunseub Jomkan Bt10 million each and kept Bt15 million for himself.

Dismissing a rumour that Suphoth was addicted to gambling as unfounded, he said police were working on the case so he couldn’t go into detail, but he affirmed that the stolen money was over Bt100 million. 

Metropolitan Police Investigation Division chief Pol LtGen Ronnasil Phusara said yesterday that a creditor of Singthong’s, Panprapat Plaithanukul, on Wednesday night handed to police Bt300,000 that the suspect had given to her to repay an investment in a restaurant, as she suspected the money was stolen during the Suphoth burglary. 

This takes the amount of money retrieved by police in relation to the alleged crime above Bt18 million. Ronnasil said police were looking for three known fugitives; Weerasak, Pongsak Namwong and Kamnuan Meknoi. Weerasak was allegedly lying low in Laos, he said.

In related news, Ratchadapisek Criminal Court yesterday refused bail for 41yearold Wassana Saphermsap, who was arrested on suspicion of possessing Bt3 million in cash allegedly stolen during the Suphoth burglary, on the grounds that she is a flight risk. Wassana is detained at the Women’s Central Correctional Institute.