Woman arrested for alleged repeated thefts from stores in malls
Police say woman arrested seven times earlier and jailed in five cases
Metropolitan Police Bureau officers on Sunday managed to track down a woman who has allegedly stolen cash from shops inside shopping malls repeatedly.
Pol Maj Gen Thiradej Thamsuthee, commander of the bureau’s Investigation Division, identified the suspect as Veena, 44.
After an investigation by the division, police managed to track down Veena to a luxury hotel on Soi Lat Phrao 130 in Bangkok’s Bang Kapi district.
She was arrested while checking out of the hotel. Police found her with 46,538 baht in cash and a pair of wireless earphones she might have stolen.
Thiradej said his division traced her after a complaint by a victim in a shopping mall in the Phayathai area.
He said Veena had been arrested seven times earlier and served jail terms in five of the seven cases.
The seven cases against her were:
- March 24, 2013: Theft in Pattaya
- November 7, 2013: Theft in Bangkok
- September 16, 2017: Theft in Pattaya
- November 9, 2022: Theft in Bangkok’s Thonglor area
- September 24, 2023: Theft in Bangkok’s Prawet district
- September 16, 2024: Theft in Bangkok’s Phayathai district
- September 27, 2024: Theft in Pattaya.
Thiradej said Veena often chose stores that had a lot of patrons to distract attention of staff. She would walk directly to money drawers, snatch cash and walk away.
Veena admitted she had been jailed five times earlier but claimed she had turned over a new leaf and the money found on her was hard-earned income.
