Sittra claims he has evidence proving ‘money mules’ shifted funds to Torsak’s wife

SATURDAY, MARCH 30, 2024

Celebrity lawyer Sittra Biabungkerd declared on Saturday that he will file a police complaint against the National Police chief and his wife for their alleged role in money laundering.

He said the complaint will be filed at Bangkok’s Tao Poon Police Station on Monday.

The lawyer added that he had enough evidence to prove that the Royal Thai Police chief, Pol General Torsak Sukvimol, and his spouse had dealings with two alleged “money mules”, whom he identified as “Kachacharn” and “Nattapong”.

He alleged that the police chief’s wife had obtained “several millions of baht” from 38 mule bank accounts between 2019 and 2023, adding that these accounts differed from those he had told the police to investigate.

Sittra claimed that the two alleged money mules had together transferred 800,000 baht as a donation to Nonthaburi’s Nakhon In Temple on Torsak’s behalf in November. He added that he had donated 5,000 baht that was “earned honestly” to the temple on Saturday.

The lawyer said he decided to proceed with the police complaint after Torsak filed criminal and civil defamation lawsuits against him over the bribe-taking accusations he had levelled against the police chief.

However, the police chief later instructed his legal advisers to withdraw the petitions they had filed against Sittra, so the lawyer could focus on coming up with evidence over so-called money laundering charges, Torsak’s lawyer Atchariya Ruangrattanapong said on Saturday.

Sittra claims he has evidence proving ‘money mules’ shifted funds to Torsak’s wife
 

He added that Torsak’s legal team withdrew the lawsuits they had submitted at the South Bangkok Criminal Court shortly before 1pm on Saturday.

“This will also protect us from allegations that the defamation lawsuits were filed to silence Sittra,” Torsak’s lawyer said.

He added that the police chief would fully cooperate with investigators to prove his innocence and maintain transparency once Sittra files his police complaint next Friday as he has said.

Sittra, meanwhile, said on Saturday that he had enough evidence to prove that the police chief’s wife had been receiving money from a woman operator of the BNK Master gambling website since 2019 when Torsak was chief of the Central Investigation Bureau. He identified the woman only as “Pimwilai”.

The lawyer claimed that Pimwilai transferred money to Kachacharn and Nattapong, who both made multiple transactions via their mule bank accounts before finally transferring the money to Torsak’s wife.

Sittra claimed that Torsak’s wife initially obtained 100,000 baht per month, but the amount was reduced to 59,000 baht after Torsak became assistant police chief. The last transfer was made in October last year, he said.

Torsak has been transferred to the Prime Minister’s Office along with his most senior deputy, Pol General Surachate Hakparn, amidst growing conflicts within the police force following an exchange of bribe-taking allegations.