The quaint province of Lamphun, in the North of Thailand, is currently under scrutiny. It’s not for its rich historical background, or for the pristine beauty that veils the city, but for an uglier wrinkle that has recently come to light, implicating certain members of the local police savings and credit co-operative. Today, we delve into the intriguing saga of the Lamphun police co-op scandal, involving fraud allegations, hundreds of victims, and an escalating sum of about 220 million baht.
Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn and Witwisit Phansuanplook, both respected members of the Move Forward Party and representatives of Lamphun in the House of Representatives, has detailed the scandal. According to them, about 423 members have been wronged by the fraudulent actions of the staff at the co-operative.
As the story unfolds, we learn that officers who had reported the fraud back in February of this year reached out to Mr Witwisit for help, expressing concern about the potential involvement of even their commanding officer in the scandal.
So, how did the fraud work? It appears that the co-op staff, who had noticed that many members rarely visited the co-op office to update their transaction books, exploited this laxity. They falsely identified these members, and using forged signatures, requested larger loans. The excess money then conveniently landed in the perpetrators’ accounts, ready for personal use.
Imagine an officer who took a loan back in 1998 to buy a car for a reasonable sum of 400,000-baht, only to discover later that his papers had been doctored to show a loan of 900,000-baht! The shock didn’t stop at that. Upon completion of his loan repayments, he finds out he still owes a staggering 700,000 baht.
Adding another layer to this tale of deceit, certain staff members even used the names of officers who hadn’t applied for a loan, causing those officers to default unknowingly, resulting in damaging credit scores.
All these revelations have led the Move Forward Party to carry the matter to the House speaker. The hope is to subsequently have it passed on to the Royal Thai Police for in-depth investigation. Mr Witwisit stated that they also plan to involve the Committee on Police Affairs for a thorough examination of the fraud allegations.
Moreover, Mr Wiroj proposes that the newly appointed national police chief, Pol Gen Torsak Sukvimol, should prioritize this case. In the interest of preserving the dignity and trust in law enforcement, it’s crucial to get to the bottom of this murky incident, and restore the faith of those who were wronged.
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