DSI arrested alleged offender jointly providing online gambling services and committing money laundering

In line with the policy guidelines of DSI Director-General Police Major Suriya Singhakamol to expedite the effort to arrest alleged offenders under special case arrest warrants to bring them to legal proceedings, Director of Surveillance and Intelligence Center Mr. Withawat Sukantharos therefore ordered the Center’s operations team to serve the Criminal Court’s Arrest Warrant No. 636/2566 on an alleged offender in Special Case No. 288/2565, who was accused of jointly committing an offence of providing online gambling services without a license and an offence of money laundering pursuant to Section 5 of Anti-Money Laundering Act, B.E. 2542 (1999).

On April 1^st, 2023, approximately at 11.00 hrs. Head of Surveillance and Intelligence Division Mr. Wuttikrai Sritawat Na Ayuttaya, accompanied by the Operations Team 3 of the Surveillance and Intelligence Center, arrested Uthai Wongkanya, a 47-year-old alleged offender in the Special Case No. 288/2565, under the Criminal Court’s Arrest Warrant No. 636/2566, dated March 8^th, 2023. From the investigation conducted by the Center, the alleged offender Uthai Wongkanya was expected to appear at Suwan Khiri Temple located in Arun Amarin Subdistrict, Bangkok Noi District, Bangkok. Upon encountering the fugitive, the DSI officers identified themselves, presented and read him the warrant, ascertained his identity, informed him of the charges and his legal rights, and affirmed that he has never been arrested under this arrest warrant before taking him into custody and sending him to the DSI inquiry officials for legal proceedings.

This special case is in response to a complaint filed by a government agency, requesting the DSI to conduct investigation into online gambling sites to identify offenders belonging to a large criminal network of money mules, either hired or deceived into opening mule accounts for the purpose of money laundering. The total value of damage is approximately 3,000 million baht. The Center for Countering Narcotics Trafficking conducted financial tracing, which uncovers the offence that Uthai Wongkanya, a member of the network, committed.