The head of the Thai Police today promised a full investigation into the organized frauds of Irishman Colin Vard in an astonishing turn around after Mr.Vard’s 16-year-old daughter launched a Facebook and Youtube campaign.
Police General Somyot Pampanmuang made the concession after Mr. Vard, a former Dublin businessman and children’s author blocked traffic outside the Royal Thai Police headquarters with his daughter Jessie, 16, and son Daire, 13, to hold an international press conference.
Prior to the protest Jessie pictured left four years ago began her own Facebook and Youtube campaign ‘Justice for Jessie/’ embarrassing Thai officials.
In front of the media Thailand’s police chief promised to:
• Provide four officers from the Royal Thai Police Foreign Affairs Division to investigate all cases.
• Order the police chief of the holiday island of Phuket to report to police headquarters tomorrow together with the Provincial Police Chief in Surat Thani, southern Thailand.
• Investigate a list of 20 alleged corrupt police officers who will also be called to Bangkok.
• Dismiss any officer found to be corrupt.
• Order the Lawyers Council of Thailand to provide lawyers for Mr. Vard’s cases.
• To complete the investigation within two months.
• To provide a home for the Vards to stay and provide expenses for the schooling of his two children.
• To provide witness protection for Mr. Vard and his children
• To also investigate the roles of the Krung Thai Bank and of Mr. Vard’s lawyers.
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| Jessie Vard today |
General Somyot has also requested that an official from the Irish Consulate attend the Royal Thai Police headquarters tomorrow. He expressed surprise that the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade had not become involved in the case.
The fraud on the Vards which was first exposed by journalist Andrew Drummond in the Irish Mail on Sunday and on this site involved a premeditated plan to deprive them of all their assets in Thailand including seven properties on Phuket.
It’s alleged that Vard’s Thai children’s nanny working with his lawyer switched his title deeds and took the real ones replacing them with photocopies. The properties worth over were then divided up amongst Thai people, including relatives of local police, through moneylenders and the Krung Thai Bank.
The family had to flee the island for their lives after they started making noises.
Said Colin Vard: “I am surprised I am still alive. I went everywhere to get justice, to Regional Police, the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok, the Department of Special Investigations, the Ministry of Justice – but Phuket police continued to refuse blankly to investigate – and when I forced them to take my statement they later changed it.”
COMMENT:
While I originally investigated this case and it received considerable publicity in Ireland no local media took the case up until Jessie came on the scene and decided to do her own bit. The scenario was all too familiar in Thailand, promises platitudes,and of course downright lies from the authorities.
The Vard case is particularly bad but it really only the tip of the iceberg of property fraud on foreigners not only in Phuket but in Thailand. In almost every case some authority or other is involved. Its much to early to rejoice of course – these things can literally go on for ever.
PHUKET: A senior Chalong police officer accused of defrauding a South African tourist was cleared of any wrongdoing on Friday (November 25) after a month-long investigation.
Police arrested South African Gabriel Sequeira, 43, on September 2 after staff in a money exchange booth on Soi Katekwan, Karon, reported that he had passed five fake US$100 notes to them on August 28.
When he was eventually released, Mr Sequeira told the Johannesburg Star newspaper that Pol Lt Col Boonlert Onklang, of Chalong Police Station, extorted B700,000 from him in exchange for his release.
After a month-long investigation, Royal Thai Police issued an official report to Phuket authorities confirming that Pol Lt Col Boonlert had been found not guilty of extorting a bribe.
Police said Mr Sequeira had taken more than 10 fake notes to the booth on the day he was arrested, and 14 more were found in a wallet belonging to Mr Sequeira’s wife.
Mr Sequeira was then taken to Chalong police station where he was questioned as to the origin of the counterfeit money, which totalled US$2,400.
Insisting he had no idea the notes were fake, Mr Sequeira claimed he had received the money from a currency exchange counter in South Africa.
Mr Sequeira was eventually released and flew back home, but not before paying B700,000 to his Thai lawyer to assist in his defence.
Mr Sequeira claimed Lt Col Boonlert and his lawyer were involved in defrauding him of that money, as he said his case was not processed in court.
However, in his official report, Lt Col Boonlert explained that he believed Mr Sequeira’s claim that he had no knowledge the money was fake, and therefore released him.
There was never any need for the courts to be involved.
Mr Sequeira’s lawyer, Weerachai Pranee, told the investigation team from the Royal Thai Police that the B700,000 Mr Sequeira had paid was purely the fee for his services, with no benefit going to police.
The payment was calculated from his hourly rate plus an additional “foreigner’s service charge”.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will now contact the South African government to report details of the investigation.
Now that's Kid's Power in Action Baby – and it's great to see! (:
Thanks for finally naming the bank. Krung Thai has been my bank for over 7 years.
They won't be after today.
Let's get the word out. It's time to start closing accounts with Krung Thai Bank.
By email from P Atki –
"Mr Sequeira’s lawyer, Weerachai Pranee, told the investigation team from the Royal Thai Police that the B700,000 Mr Sequeira had paid was purely the fee for his services, with no benefit going to police. The payment was calculated from his hourly rate plus an additional “foreigner’s service charge”."
Perhaps Weerachai Pranee could give us a breakdown on these charges – what is his hourly rate, how many hours did he put into this case, and more importantly, how much was the 'foreigner’s service charge'? And perhaps he could also explain exactly what is this service charge for and how is it calculated?
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I was thinking of compiling a list of dodgy Thai lawyers Peter – This may go near the top
Regardless of whether Colin was a bit silly to get involved with the hired help, it doesn't excuse or exonerate the Police, bankers and lawyers from their devious dealings in this case. Over on Thai Visa the usual myopic, jaundiced, belly-aching bar stool experts are giving their usual comments trying to blame the victim.
The very reason we have legal system is to protect people from criminals, but also protect them from themselves. Being naive or even gullible should not leave people victimized. When cheated in Thailand you have only a limited amount of options. Go to the police and risk being bent over by another group of crooks, see a lawyer who may well be another crook or working with police crooks, buy a gun and take some old school revenge or suck it up and leave with your loss.
It's just a hopeless system. Even if you take legal action it can take 20 years and a number of appeals before anything can be settled. Then you can have lawyers, police and even court officials conspiring against you. This is what happens to most foreigners who try to take on a Thai local. Then there are the threats, intimidation just to top things off. For foreigners they often seek a sympathetic fellow farang, but that also turns into a disaster when they meet a Drew Noyes or Brian Goudie.
Let's just see how this case goes. Even if these cheats give up the houses Colin will have to sell up and go, otherwise he'll be watching his back for years to come. These types will kill to save their perceived face………
"It's just a hopeless system." – Tommy Weapon
"We Found Love in a Hopeless Place…We Found Love in a Hopeless Place…" – Rihanna
Millions of farang can surely relate to that one (:
The squeaky wheel gets greased, and youth is served.
It's Better Late than Never.
Long ago – I came to work at 10 AM (the morning after the late-night debauchery of my 21'st birthday) – a full 2.5 hours late! I thought I was toast, done like dinner.
The construction boss looked at me and said.. "Better Late than Never."
I almost fell down.
Then I worked twice as hard.
And have never stopped..
Today we saw a perfect example of what I've been saying for years. A high ranking official caught red handed. Receipts revealing millions of baht paid into his own bank accounts. Does he confess? Does he admit wrong doing? No, he makes up a bullshit story so far fetched you'd expect it from a 5 year old, not a 50+ year old.
It wasn't money from people trafficking or turning a blind eye to anything. It was money from bullfighting gambling. Why not say a leprechaun led him to a pot of gold? That would as believable as his story. This was the same guy who was on a bust where 70 million baht was found but only 30 turned up at the police station.
Like so many cases involving police and army officers the story disappeared just the like 40 million.