February 20, 2007
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NEWS: Three Held in Thailand on Fake Card ChargesTwo Norwegian men and a Thai woman were arrested in Chiang Rai, Thailand last week, following a domestic dispute. John Dang, Svein Amesen, and Kewalin Khamlasai were charged with credit card forgery after being found with 75 fake credit cards, a notebook computer, a desktop computer, a scanner, and 327,000 baht (just under $9,700 US) in cash. Kewalin -surnames are placed first in Thai names- a resident of tambon Tha Sai, took her car to the police station at Muang Chiang Rai to file an assault charge against Dang, to whom she is married. Kewalin claimed that Dang physically forced her to turn over a notebook computer belonging to her.
Police checked out Kewalin's vehicle, and found eight counterfeit credit cards. Search of her residence turned up Dang and Amesen, as well as the remaining cards and the electronic equipment. Dang and Amesen did not deny owning the equipment, stated police, but claimed that they were only manufacturing the cards "for fun." Unconvinced, the trio were booked. The police have contacted the banking institution whose names were used on the fake cards, and an investigation as to whether any real accounts were accessed in the scam is currently pending.