Card scammer nabbed after 14 years

Police have arrested a 44-year-old woman in Sing Buri 14 years after gang members used a forged credit card in the name of the New Zealand ambassador to buy and sell fuel worth about 10 million baht.

Ketkanya Khanthawee was arrested in Sing Buri’s Muang district on Tuesday, Pol Maj Gen Phutthidet Boonkraphue, commander of the Economic Crime Suppression Division, said yesterday.

She was the last of seven suspects wanted for forging and using credit cards in the name of the then-New Zealand ambassador in 2008. The gang bought credit card data from a Malaysian and made copies of many of the cards. They used those in the ambassador’s name to buy diesel and petrol that were then sold to other illegal petrol vendors. Pol Maj Gen Phutthidet said Ms Ketkanya confessed to travelling with the other suspects to buy fuel and other goods at petrol stations in many provinces using forged credit cards. She had been moving from place to place for 14 years after learning a warrant was out for her arrest, he said.