Online gamblers busted after Bt33.9m embezzled from local govt office
Police investigating a civil servant accused of embezzling Bt33.9 million in public money to feed her gambling habit has uncovered an online network of casinos.
A raid on an address in Hua Hin revealed that gambling website Mafia88.com was holding more than Bt100 million in bets, police announced on Thursday (July 2).
The raid came after Kanitha Hoythong, 28, a staff member at the provincial administration office, was arrested on June 21 and charged with falsifying documents and withdrawing money from the Government Fiscal Management Information System.
The Technology Crime Suppression Division traced her online gambling history and came up with an address in Hua Hin district.
Police were sent to the CM Design company and found it was a front for the operators of the online casino.
Investigators discovered the Hua Hin base was the largest of five operating centres in a gambling network that operated about 43 websites.
Website operators at three of the centres have been arrested while arrests at the other two are pending.
Computers and devices at the operating centres were seized as part of the ongoing police investigation into the gambling network.