Nigerian, 13 Thais arrested over romance scam

Nigerian, 13 Thais arrested over romance scam
Ezeneche Uzochukwu Jerome, 45, standing left, and his accomplices in a romance scam are arrested following police raids on 14 locations in Bangkok and six other provinces. (Photo supplied/Wassayos Ngamkham)

A Nigerian man and 13 Thais, who were members of a romance scam gang responsible for siphoning about 800 million baht out of Thailand over a span of three years, have been arrested following police operations conducted across seven provinces.

Teams of Crime Suppression Division (CSD) police on Thursday raided 14 locations – seven in Bangkok, two in Phitsanulok and one each in Pathum Thani, Uthai Thani, Uttaradit, Kamphaeng Phet and Phichit, CSD commander Pol Maj Gen Montree Theskhan said on Friday.

Seized from the 14 suspects were 21 mobile phones, 20 bank account books, a mutual fund book, two computers, five sets of overseas money transfers, a SIM card, three memory cards and two Chanel bags.

The arrest came after a victim filed a complaint with the CSD police last year. The victim reported losing more than 1 million baht in a romance scam.

According to the victim, one of the gang members had initiated contact, using a photo of an attractive foreign woman as her profile photo on social media. The scammer, posing as an American female soldier based in Syria, engaged the victim in online conversations, professing love and plans to visit Thailand.

After establishing trust, the scammer claimed to have sent valuable parcels to him, which were held up at the airport due to taxes. The victim was coerced into paying the taxes, with promises of reimbursement, said Pol Maj Gen Montree.

Once the victim fell into the trap, the scammer asked a Thai accomplice to pose as an airport staff member, using phone calls to extract money from him for purported tax and service fees. The victim made several transfers amounting to over  a million baht, said Pol Col Pornsak Laorujiralai, deputy CSD chief.

After obtaining the victim’s money, the scammers could no longer be reached, he said.

Pol Lt Col Akkharaphon Maneewan, deputy superintendent of CSD’s subdivision 1, said police began tracking down the culprits and eventually gathered leads indicating that the gang comprised both Thai and Nigerian nationals. 

The Nigerian man was identified as Ezeneche Uzochukwu Jerome, 45, who had been previously arrested in 2018 for similar offenses and had resumed such activities after being released.

CSD investigators tracked the money trail of the Nigerian and his gang, and found that they would immediately transfer money swindled from their victims to overseas bank accounts. 

Between 2018 and 2021, about 800 million baht had been funnelled into foreign accounts, said Pol Lt Col Akkharaphon.

The CSD secured court approval to arrest the Nigerian suspect and his 13 Thai accomplices. All were held in CSD police custody for legal action.

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Primary school teacher molested 11-year-old boy in HOD room, told fellow teachers what to testify

SINGAPORE: A 44-year-old man was convicted by a court on Friday (Aug 25) of five counts of molesting an 11-year-old student when he was a teacher at a primary school.

The man, who cannot be named due to gag orders protecting the victim’s identity, also tampered with witnesses including his fellow teachers, by giving them information so they would testify accordingly.

The judge on Friday convicted the man of all counts of molesting the 11-year-old boy five times in a Head of Department room at the unnamed school between November 2017 and October 2018.

In a case that pitted the victim’s testimony against the man’s bare denial, the judge found that the prosecution had established all charges beyond reasonable doubt.

Multiple witnesses testified in the case, including the boy, his relatives, the school’s principal and teachers, as well as former students.

THE BOY’S BACKGROUND

Deputy Public Prosecutors Lim Ying Min and Angela Ang said the victim was from a fractured family, with his parents separating when he was an infant.

The offender took advantage of this, gaining the trust of the victim and his mother as a teacher and mentor in the victim’s life, said Ms Lim.

The boy was largely cared for by different people at various points in his life, including his grandparents, his great-grandmother and a housekeeper.

After being moved to a different primary school in 2016, he felt sad, lost and alone as he did not know anyone. He testified that he did not have a good relationship with his new stepfather, who would allegedly scold and beat him, leaving bruises.

In this period, the boy joined a co-curricular activity (CCA) that the offender was in charge of.

The teacher later appointed the boy as a leader of the CCA and the boy would meet the teacher in his office at the HOD room to discuss CCA matters.

In 2017, the boy began confiding in the teacher about his family problems.

The teacher also asked the boy to be his godson.

They grew so close that even the boy’s mother came to rely on the teacher. But she said she did not know that her son had been going out alone with the teacher, or that he had become the teacher’s godson.

However, the teacher began molesting the boy. The boy testified that the first incident occurred before the school holidays in late 2017, when he was alone in the teacher’s cubicle.

He said he was telling the teacher about his family issues when the teacher placed his hands across the boy’s waist and molested him over his shorts.

The boy testified that he was shocked and uncomfortable and left the HOD room. He also felt embarrassed and did not know what to do.

The molesting continued another four times, with the final incident occurring when the boy confided in the teacher about having to move out and how he had cried as he felt his mother no longer wanted him.

The teacher stood up from his seat to hug the boy, before molesting him.

The boy testified that his focus was not on the teacher’s touch at this time because he was too emotional about having to move out. 

This account was supported by his mother’s testimony, in which she said she had made the decision over concerns that her husband would punish her son harshly over his behavioural issues.

HOW THE OFFENCES WERE DISCOVERED

The offences came to light by “sheer chance”, said the prosecution, after the victim’s brother found out that the teacher was celebrating the victim’s birthday.

The victim told his brother that his teacher was taking him out for dinner to celebrate his birthday and was buying him a bicycle as a gift.

The brother thought this odd as he felt teachers did not usually do such things and asked for a photo of the teacher.

When the victim showed his brother a photo of the teacher, his brother jokingly said that the teacher looked “gay” and asked if he had touched the victim.

When the victim turned silent, his brother sensed something amiss and repeated his question. The victim then said that the teacher had touched his private parts.

The victim eventually told his uncle and brother what happened and demonstrated the acts.

The victim’s mother spoke to him about the seriousness of the matter and the consequences of his allegations but the boy stuck to his story.

After the mother reported the incident to the school, the principal arranged for a meeting with the victim and the lead school counsellor. The principal noted that the victim looked “uncomfortable and uneasy” at first, appearing “embarrassed and awkward” and eventually breaking down and crying.

The principal later told the boy’s mother to file a police report, which she did that same day.

The boy testified that he did not say or do anything to stop the teacher because the teacher was bigger than him, and he was afraid that the teacher might do something to him.

He also did not dare to tell his family about what happened because he did not think they would believe him. He also felt they would not have trusted him at the time because he had lied to them about homework, classes and other things.

He also said he did not want to “break” his relationship with the teacher, who had helped him a lot and whom he was grateful for.

At trial, the man downplayed his relationship with the boy and denied knowing about the boy’s family issues despite evidence showing otherwise, said Ms Lim.

The teacher, who was defended by Mr Gino Hardial Singh, claimed that the victim had concocted the allegations because he refused to give the boy a bicycle.

He called the boy a compulsive liar and said he could not have committed the offences because he did not meet students alone in the HOD room, and because of his busy after-school schedule.

He argued that he could not have committed the offences in most of the charges as he had only moved to the cubicle in question in September 2018.

His previous cubicle was visible to people outside the glass door of the HOD room, he claimed.

He also gave inconsistent evidence, such as saying that he did not talk to the victim about the victim being scolded or beaten by his stepfather, even though he had said otherwise to the police.

THE WITNESS TAMPERING

The prosecution said the teacher had persistently tried to obstruct the court of justice in the course of trial, despite numerous warnings.

During the first tranche of the trial, the teacher had sent an image to prove that he was still sitting in a certain cubicle until September 2018 to two defence witnesses.

The witnesses were part of a group chat where they were discussing the seating movements in the HOD room, saying that they were unclear about what happened.

One of the witnesses later confirmed during the trial that the accused was trying to convince the group so they would testify accordingly.

The accused had also contacted a prosecution witness – the principal of the school – by sending her an email while the trial was ongoing. 

The accused also met up with defence witnesses and discussed the evidence that they needed to give in court that would be helpful to his defence, including a discussion on his seating arrangement in the HOD room.

In January 2023, the accused contacted a former teacher who was a prosecution witness, telling her that he had left her a birthday present at her home the day before.

The accused also sent messages to one of the defence witnesses saying he had “no choice” but to try and jolt her memory as it was quite critical for him.

He then sent a series of images to the witness, along with his own narration of a chronology of events. He reminded her that when she took the stand, the prosecution would ask her questions like how sure she was, and that she would “say these lor”.

This was despite the witness saying that she could not recall the matters, and expressing surprise that the accused could. The accused then told her to “correct all the wrong” done by a prosecution witness.

The accused also sent a message to participants of a group chat comprising some defence witnesses, saying that they needed to have “some coordination”. He was later cross-examined about this and conceded that he wanted the defence witnesses to testify based on whatever information he had on hand.

One of the defence witnesses confirmed that she understood this to mean that the accused wanted to coordinate what the defence witnesses were to say in court.

She also conceded in cross-examination that the accused had been trying to coordinate the testimonies to ensure that they were consistent and would assist his case.

The teacher also met up with one of the defence witnesses for lunch, preparing a document titled “Evidences” which he sent to the witness. He asked the witness to disseminate it to the rest of the witnesses, and this witness sent the document to a group chat.

The accused later asked one of the witnesses to delete their group chat, where they had discussed evidence despite not being supposed to. He also gave instructions on what to say if the police asked about the group chats. 

The prosecution said it was “abundantly clear” that the accused had proven himself to be “a deceitful witness unworthy of credit”.

The man will return to court for mitigation and sentencing next week.

CNA has contacted the Ministry of Education for more information.

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Xi, Modi hold rare sitdown for China-India border talks

“The two sides should bear in mind the overall interests of their bilateral relations and handle properly the border issue so as to jointly safeguard peace.” India’s foreign secretary said Modi had highlighted unresolved issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) that divides India’s Himalayan region of Ladakh fromContinue Reading

What to expect at Grand Prix Season Singapore 2023: Parties, food, music from Orchard Road to Sentosa

Formula 1 season is right around the corner and this year’s Grand Prix Season Singapore (GPSS) will be back with a range of precinct parties and events at four locations across the island from Sep 8 to 17.

Under the theme Circuit of Festivity, the events will be held at Orchard Road, Clarke Quay, Kampong Glam and Sentosa. These will be complementing the actual Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2023 experience, from the races themselves to the musical acts such as Kings of Leon, Post Malone, Robbie Williams and Jackson Wang.

“The curated line-up of offerings across multiple facets such as dining, entertainment and retail showcase the best of Singapore’s lifestyle experiences, which both locals and visitors can enjoy,” said Ong Ling Lee, executive director, Sports and Wellness, Singapore Tourism Board.

Here’s a quick rundown of what to expect at each place:

WHERE: ORCHARD ROAD

A light and sound show titled Revolutions: The GPSS Immersive Experience, done by Singaporean artist Brandon Tay, will be the main attraction, located in a dome structure at ION Orchard.

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The error of NATO’s ways in Asia

NATO engagement in East Asia to counter China’s influence is a misguided and potentially dangerous strategy for the alliance’s European members. It is bound to increase tensions between China and NATO and risks binding China and Russia closer together. 

A China containment strategy has no tangible benefits for European security and predominantly serves the interests of the United States, which is desperately trying to maintain its global hegemony.

While NATO is not currently looking to recruit new members in East Asia, it is forging strategic partnerships with “like-minded” states in the region.

Countries like Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand are all in the process of transitioning from being NATO’s “global partners” to becoming members of a more tangible arrangement that NATO has labeled “Individually Tailored Partnership Programs.”

NATO’s strategic cooperation with Japan has increased in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. At the July 2023 NATO Leaders Summit in Lithuania, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg greeted Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, telling him that “no partner is closer than Japan.”

As a step toward more substantial security relations, NATO was planning to open a liaison office in Tokyo — the first of its kind in Asia. But these plans have been shelved due to apprehensions that they might fuel tensions between NATO and China. French President Emmanuel Macron warned that such a move would be a “big mistake.”

Officially, NATO’s outreach to East Asia aims at enhancing cooperation on issues such as “maritime security, new technologies, cyber, climate change, and resilience.” 

But in practice, the move is unmistakably an attempt to counter China, which NATO now openly regards as a “challenge [to] our interests, security and values.” 

In his meeting with Kishida, Stoltenberg noted his concern about “China’s heavy military build-up” and “the modernization and expansion of its nuclear forces.” This must have been music to Kishida’s ears, for he has persistently strived to develop closer relations with NATO for precisely this reason.

But it is difficult to see how European security would benefit from an enlarged NATO military role in East Asia, which is certain to antagonize Beijing. Unsurprisingly, China has responded vociferously to NATO’s words and actions. 

Chinese troops under a Russian flag in a file photo. Image: RT

China fears that the United States’ largely unconnected alliances in the region will take on a more integrated and anti-Chinese character under the NATO umbrella. NATO has countered that its military presence is benign and defensive in nature.

NATO’s allegedly defensive intentions are unlikely to reassure Beijing. Virtually all international relations experts agree that it is impossible to correctly decipher other states’ intentions. 

Without certainty of others’ intentions, states tend to raise their guard and take countermeasures. One does not have to be an international relations expert to predict that this could well happen in East Asia should NATO increase its military presence there.

NATO members often complain about Chinese attempts at changing the status quo, but they seem unable or unwilling to recognize that their own venture into East Asia constitutes a change of the status quo — something Beijing would feel compelled to respond to.

This dynamic of tit-for-tat escalation in the absence of certainty used to be common knowledge in the international relations community. It is often called the security dilemma

If Chinese leaders perceive NATO engagement with East Asian countries as increasing the threat to China, they might also take precautions by increasing armaments and alliance building. One counterproductive effect on European security, for example, would arise if China moved even closer to Russia.

But after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, warnings about security dilemmas have often been dismissed as appeasement. If we accept the security dilemma logic, hawks contend, would we not also have to accept Russian President Vladimir Putin’s excuse that NATO enlargement forced him to invade Ukraine? 

The answer is no. It is of course true that Russia’s invasion is illegal and unjustified. But it is also true that Moscow perceived NATO enlargement as threatening, although each new NATO member had purely defensive reasons for joining the alliance. Until recently, the latter point was not seen as a crazy appeasement argument.

A Ukrainian serviceman prepares to fire at Russian positions from a US-supplied howitzer. Photo: Screengrab / Euronews

Wars stir emotions. The Ukraine war has made Europeans blind to the dangerous consequences of geographically expanded engagement. While NATO’s enlargement in Eastern Europe was tightly connected to European security, deepened engagement in East Asia has zero rhyme or reason. It will only serve to antagonize China. 

Despite China’s often problematic behavior, it does not pose a direct threat to Europe. In 2020, this was recognized even by the European Union foreign affairs chief. But such realism is hard to come by in post-invasion Europe. NATO’s East Asian ambitions unnecessarily risk turning China into an enemy of Europe.

When NATO strays so far “out of area” that it begins operating in East Asia, one has to question the benefits for European security. There seem to be few, if any. For the United States, NATO’s turn to East Asia is strategically significant. 

Washington is seeking to maintain US global hegemony by binding together its loose alliance networks into a firmer coalition capable of containing a rising China. It seems clear that NATO’s new East Asia policy is primarily directed from Washington.

But Europe does not have to play the United States’ power games. As French President Macron correctly stated earlier in 2023, getting involved in such games would be “a trap for Europe.”

Ulv Hanssen is Associate Professor at Soka University.

Linus Hagstrom is Professor of Political Science and Deputy Head of the Department of Political Science at Law at the Swedish Defence University.

This article was originally published by East Asia Forum and is republished under a Creative Commons license.

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Selection of new police chief postponed

Selection of new police chief postponed
Royal Thai Police Headquarters in Pathum Wan district, Bangkok. (Photo: Pornprom Satrabhaya)

The selection of the new police chief has been postponed until the inauguration of the new government for the sake of appropriateness, Royal Thai Police (RTP) spokesman Pol Lt Gen Achayon Kraithong said on Friday.

The decision was made during a meeting of the Police Commission, chaired by caretaker Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, at the RTP headquarters on Friday morning.

The agenda included the selection of a new RTP commissioner-general to replace Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas, who is set to retire at the end of September. The meeting also discussed the selection of deputy police chiefs, the police inspector-general and commanders of all police divisions.

According to Pol Lt Gen Achayon, the meeting agreed to postpone the selection of the new police chief until after a new cabinet has been sworn into office, in line with the principle of good governance.

Pol Gen Damrongsak was assigned to chair the meeting to proceed with the selection of deputy police chiefs and other positions.

On reports that Pol Gen Torsak Sukvimol, a deputy police chief, is the frontrunner candidate for the top police post, Pol Gen Achayon declined to reply, saying that this matter should be left for the new prime minister to decide.

On Tuesday, a joint sitting of the House and the Senate elected Srettha Thavisin of the Pheu Thai Party as prime minister with 482 votes for, 165 against and 81 abstentions.

When asked about security arrangements for former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra who has been admitted to the Police General Hospital for treatment, Pol Gen Achayon said the issue was not discussed during the meeting.

Thaksin, 74, was admitted to prison on Tuesday after his return to his home country the same day, following a court appearance.

On Wednesday, the inmate was transferred from Bangkok Remand Prison to the Police General Hospital at 12.20am Wednesday, suffering from chest pain, hypertension and low blood oxygen, according to the Department of Corrections.

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Trash fire ’emergency’ chokes locals on Indonesia’s Java

Sprawling Indonesian cities on its most populated island Java lack modern waste management infrastructure to process hoards of solid trash produced each day. Kurniawan on Thursday blamed the fire on discarded cigarette butts and called on residents not to throw them away, “especially in this drought season”. He added thatContinue Reading

Watch: India’s Chandrayaan-3 rover leaves its lander

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has released the first-ever video of its rover for lunar mission Chandrayaan-3.

In the video, the rover is seen coming down the ramp of Chandrayaan-3’s lander, Vikram, onto the surface of the Moon.

India made history on 23 August when Vikram successfully touched down near the south pole of the Moon.

The 26kg rover called Pragyaan (the Sanskrit word for wisdom) was carried to the lunar surface in the lander’s belly.

It will now roam around the rocks and craters of the Moon, gathering crucial data and images to be sent back to Earth for analysis.

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