Taiwanese businessman arrested over plot to kill wife, son in Bangkok
A Taiwanese businessman and two alleged Thai accomplices were arrested over a failed plot to murder the Taiwanese’s son and wife following business disputes, Crime Suppression Division (CSD) police reported on Saturday.
A day after the arrests early on Friday, the three suspects were brought to the Criminal Court in Ratchadapisek area on Saturday for the court to approve their temporary detention pending further investigation.
The three suspects were identified as Feng-Hoo Chang, 68, Rear Admiral Prakaipruek Sifah, 64, and Thevaraj Mungkorn, 69.
The court rejected the suspects’ request for bail.
The three were accused by the CSD of seeking and hiring a gunman to kill Chang’s son, Chang Shing Yen, or James, 29, and his mother who is the prime accused's wife. The unnamed gunman, dissatisfied that he did not get the full payment in advance, reportedly alerted James about the threat to his life. James then sought help from the CSD.
At 5am on Friday, the CSD dispatched eight teams to search eight locations in Bangkok, Samut Prakan and Chonburi and arrested the three suspects.
Prakaipruek was arrested at his house in Klong Song Ton Noon subdistrict of Bangkok’s Lat Krabang district under an arrest warrant issued on December 21.
Thevaraj was arrested at his house in Bangkok’s Thawi Watthana subdistrict while the Taiwanese man was found at his house on Srinakarin Road in Nong Bon subdistrict of Bangkok’s Prawet district.
James alleged he had learned that his father had allegedly collaborated with Prakaipruek, whom his father had appointed to the company’s board of directors, to hire a gunman to kill James and his mother. James told Montree that he had sent his mother to Taiwan to be under protection there.
The electronics products manufacturing company for exports was established by Chang in 1999. James and his mother joined the company’s board of directors later and found that his father had allegedly siphoned off huge sums of money from the firm.
James has filed over 20 criminal and civil lawsuits against his father to remove him as the company president. James alleged that Prakaipruek allegedy sent a group of men to intimidate him in the company on August 1 this year.
The CSD alleged that Prakaipruek had contacted Thevaraj, his friend and a formal naval officer, to recruit a gunman.
Thevaraj used to be a marine and a marine trainer. He was arrested and jailed for killing a policeman in 2006. He got a life sentence but his penalty has been commuted and he has been released from jail recently.
The three suspects denied the charges.
