Police have found two purchases exceeding 60, 000 ringgit that were made to a bank account held by Ekkalak Phaenoi, the 41-year-old Thai ex-Marine suspected of killing Lim Kimya, 73, a previous Cambodian opposition MP, in Bangkok on Tuesday, a source said.
At 1pm on Tuesday, the initial purchase of 30, 000 was made, which allowed Mr Ekkalak to eventually retreat 22, 000 ringgit and use it to pay a officer with whom he had pawned his weapons, said the source, citing information from the ongoing investigation.
The agent in question, who has already been questioning by investigators, claimed he had not been involved in the death despite having previously allowed the suspected killer to pawn his weapon.
About five days after the death, the various 30, 000 ringgit was transferred to Mr Ekkalak’s accounts, the source added.
Mr Ekkalak has been arrested in Cambodia’s Battambang and presently awaits repatriation to Thailand.
His younger girl contacted local police in Chon Buri, where she lives, upon learning her brother was wanted in connection with Monday’s death, said another cause.
The girl claimed that Mr. Ekkalak had left a backpack with her the day he fled the country when they met up at a Chon Buri shopping mall.
She claimed that the officers hadn’t opened the bag until Thursday when she learned that there was a gun in. She was released without any cost after questioning, said the source.
Inside the case were a Smith and Wesson revolver, six shots and two spent shell shells, which were all handed over to Chana Songkhram authorities, who are handling the probe, said the source.
Thus far, only Mr Ekkalak and Pich Kimsrin, a 24-year-old Thai man who is believed to have acted as a spy in the death, have been named as defendants with imprisonment permits issued, the authorities said.
Police in Chana Songkhram yesterday arranged for the European woman of Lim Kimya and his older brother to meet with the prosecution at the Criminal Court on Ratchadaphisek Road in advance of their planned investigation.
The French Foreign Affairs Ministry publicly condemned Lim Kimya’s death on Thursday in a statement posted on its site.