Thai Immigration Police round up foreign fugitives

Four foreign fugitives - three Americans wanted for fraud and theft and a Finn wanted for sexual abuse, were rounded up by Thai Immigration Police.

In a press conference held yesterday, Pol Lt General Sakda Chuenpakdee, commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, revealed that fraud suspect Joseph Simon Arsenault, 56, was arrested in Watthana district on March 9.

Arsenault, who fled to Thailand last April, was among 16 people charged with running a telemarketing scheme that reportedly embezzled over US$20 million (about Bt700 million) from 290 victims in 46 states and Canada.

Antonius "Antony" W Ceulen, 60, wanted for allegedly cheating others of $400,000 (about Bt13 million) from November 1996 to June 1997, was arrested on March 8 at a Bangkok condominium where he lived with his Thai wife.

Ceulen, an executive of Lippmann Co, and accomplices allegedly sold promissory notes to at least 12 investors in Wisconsin and elsewhere in the US with the promise of high returns after the firm secured a big loan, but no one got his money back, Sakda said.

In the third case, war veteran Kenneth Roger Goins, 29, wanted for theft in North Carolina, was charged with overstaying his visa since January.

Finnish national Tuukka Tapani Karppinen, 31, wanted for molestation of a minor under 16, was also caught after arriving in Thailand on January 16.

The 22 Somalis were staying at an apartment in Ramkhamhaeng Soi 24. After prosecution for illegal entry, they would be deported, he said.

Source: The Nation