FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Two foreigners arrested in ‘extortion’ sting

Two foreigners arrested in ‘extortion’ sting

Police arrested an Australian man and a Dutch man in Chiang Mai's Mae Rim district on Thursday afternoon for allegedly trying to extort an Australian restaurant owner out of Bt1.7 million.

The chopper-riding suspects say they are innocent. The alleged victim, aged in his 50s, had told police the duo threatened to kill his family if he failed to pay the money.

It is alleged that the duo told the alledged victim that they spent that amount trying to collect a debt from his former business partner on his behalf. The alleged victim said he had revealed to the Australian suspect his suspicion the ex-business partner had cheated him and claimed that the man said he would collect the debt.

The restaurant owner, however, claimed he had “merely wanted to complain”. A restaurant owner filed a police complaint against his former business partner a month later.

The Australian suspect then allegedly told him that he and the Dutch suspect had spent Bt1.7 million trying to collect the debt and demanded they be compensated.

The restaurant owner said he feared for his life and his family’s safety and paid them Bt300,000 and was scheduled to pay the rest on Thursday but told police about the alleged extortion.

Police then set up a sting operation and arrested the duo at a shopping mall’s parking lot in Mae Rim. Police are investigating separate complaints about large-built foreigners matching the description of the two men who had allegedly extorted money from tourists.

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