‘Evidence’ Reveals Thai Police Officers Extorted Money from Online Gambling Operators

A senior Thai police chief has acknowledged the existence of “evidence” that at least three cyber police officers attempted to extort money from gambling website operators.

The Thai media outlet Thairath reported that Police Lieutenant General Surapol Prembut, Commissioner of the Technology Crime Suppression Division, faced media questions on Friday, November 21.

Prembut admitted that there were “allegations” that serving officers took bribes from managers of gambling websites during a recent crackdown, which resulted in the seizure of over 2 billion baht ($61.7 million) in assets. But he said that investigations into the officers were ongoing and that the facts were still being established.

Surapol also said that he has taken action against police officers in “three cases” whereby complaints “have surfaced.”

Three Cases are Ongoing

The complaints “suggested” the officers “were involved in cases where they abused their authority” and “committed crimes,” Prembut added.

One of the cases involves an officer in Chiang Mai Province who allegedly demanded that a gambling website owner pay them a bribe to avoid prosecution. A committee has “revealed evidence,” but is still reportedly “investigating the facts.”

Police Officer Allowed Gambling Operator to Access Frozen Funds

In a second case, an officer was accused of “collaborating with members of the public outside work hours” ahead of a raid on a betting site that operated in a factory in an unnamed eastern province.

A third case involves an officer in the IT Crime Suppression Division. This officer is accused of extorting money from a gambling site operator whose bank accounts had been frozen. The suspect allegedly took money from the operator in exchange for letting them make withdrawals from the frozen account.

The police chief added that officers have arrested more than 30 gambling website operators during the crackdown.

Prembut said: “The Cyber Police is expediting its crackdowns on all issues affecting the public, particularly online gambling. I strongly urge junior officers not to engage [with suspects] or take part in illegal online gambling.”

Thai police have stepped up their campaign against illegal gambling sites in recent weeks. Late last week, the Thai government reported that the Royal Thai Police had thus far taken down a total of 75,000 illegal casino-related web pages and social media posts.

This total includes 26,674 Facebook posts, as well as 6,424 posts on the chat app Line. Police have also ordered the removal of 2,824 TikTok videos.

Earlier this month, a Thai court agreed to extradite the suspected illegal gambling kingpin She Zhijiang to his native China.

She is thought to be the mastermind behind Shwe Kokko, Myanmar’s infamous “scam city.”