Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapat, deputy national police chief, said that a suspect identified as Ms. Jirapat had been arrested at her residence in Nakhon Pathom’s Bang Len district after local police launched an investigation into a Facebook ad offering counterfeit US dollar banknotes to anyone interested.
Ms. Jirapat reportedly posted the fake bills for sale on the social media platform. Investigators later discovered that the woman belonged to a gang that counterfeited cash.
Previously, the police tracked down three suspects –identified as Ms. Pachara, Ms. Orathai and Ms. Sirinrat– and requested arrest warrants earlier this week. They implicated a fourth woman, Ms. Jirapat, saying that she was the counterfeiter.
Moreover, Ms. Prathai and Ms. Pachara accused Ms. Sirinrat of hiring them to sell counterfeit banknotes. Later, Ms. Sirinrat confessed to the crime and said that Ms. Jirapat had made the counterfeit bills they were selling.
All suspects, whose last names were withheld, face charges for allegedly producing and selling counterfeit US dollar banknotes. They said it was their first crime of that type.
The Technology Crime Suppression Division and the Metropolitan Police Bureau raided the home in the Bang Len district of Nakhon Pathom on Wednesday, following the investigation into the Facebook posts. At the property, agents from both security groups found many counterfeit $100 bills and a printing press.
When she was arrested, Ms. Jirapat reportedly told police that the confiscated press had been used to manufacture the counterfeit banknotes. The suspects claimed they had produced around 50,000 counterfeit bills so far.
Authorities told the media that the inquiry would continue as other accomplices might be involved in the crime.
