Ex-banker nabbed over fake loans
Police have arrested a former senior bank employee in Muang district of Phitsanulok province who is accused of falsifying loans and auto leasing contracts to get commission fees.
Theephat Liangwatthanatham, 43, was apprehended in front of a convenience store in tambon Tha Pho yesterday, said Pol Col Sanuwong Khongkhain, superintendent of sub-division 4 of the Anti-Corruption Police Division (ACPD).
Mr Theephat was wanted on an arrest warrant issued by the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases on Nov 28 for malfeasance causing damage to an organisation or a state agency.
According to police, the suspect used to be a senior employee in the leasing department of a well-known bank, which was not named. They say he colluded with a friend who ran a used-car tent in falsifying auto leasing documents and contracts.
Police say the banker altered auto leasing contracts of other car tent businesses for use with those of his friend’s firm to earn commissions. Investigators also said that he embezzled portions of the loans granted to customers for his own use.
During questioning, Mr Theephat reportedly admitted that in 10 years of working as a loan officer at a commercial bank, he had seen there were legal loopholes he could exploit.
When he changed jobs and went to work for a state enterprise bank, he had football gambling debts, and his family was also in dire need of money, he claimed.
He said he started to falsify documents to embezzle money from the bank to pay off the gambling debts. He was later fired and jailed for three years.
He also used credit cards borrowed from friends and never repaid them. He eventually changed his name and fled.