Brazilian arrested for using fake identity to withdraw Bt30 million cash

Brazilian programmer and website designer Carlos Augusto Saenz Lopes de Meida, 37, will initially face the charge of forging and using a forged passport. He was accused of conspiring with a transnational gang to steal a damaged person’s information to forge a passport and visa stamps in a bid to withdraw his money from banks. Also presented was other evidence including the fake Italian passport, 12 credit cards, two phones, one computer notebook and two bank account books.

The suspect reportedly used the fake passport to open an account at a local bank on Silom Road and tried to cash three cheques, claiming he worked as a financial adviser and wished to wire money to buy a property and invest in a business in Thailand. However, the bank staff suspected the passport was fake and alerted Immigration Police to investigate. Police now looking for more accomplices, including the foreign gang that provided him with the fake passport.