Iranian Passport Forgery Suspect Extradited Back to Thailand

BANGKOK – Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation and staff of the Office of the Attorney General were at Suvarnabhumi Airport Thursday night to greet Iranian National Sayed Ramin Pakneiad extradited from Malaysia after jumping bail in Chon Buri Province in 2012.

Sayed Ramin Pakneiad jumped bail in Pattaya several years ago in a large-scale passport forgery case and fled into hiding in Malaysia has already arrived in Thailand and will be today taken to the Criminal Court for detention.

Sayed was escorted by officers from the Department of Special Investigation and staff of the Office of the Attorney General, after he arrived at Suvarnabhumi airport about 10.30pm on Thursday.

DSI deputy director-general Somsak Raksaksakul told the Bangkok Post the Iranian national, a key suspect in passport forgery, had been involved in a criminal syndicate. He had lived in Thailand under the guise of a businessman for more than 10 years before he was caught in Pattaya City in 2012.

During the arrest, officers seized illicit drugs, fake passports and ID cards and other equipment used for falsifying documents. The man was also accused of trafficking people from the Middle East via Thailand to Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand.

He jumped bail granted by the Pattaya Court and fled to Malaysia.

The DSI had traced the suspect  and then sought the cooperation of Malaysian police to arrest him.

Malaysian authorities arrested him and found he also had a link with a human trafficking network in Malaysia, the DSI deputy chief said

The DSI and the Office of the Attorney General had long sought his extradition, but the man fought a court battle for three years to avoid standing trial in Thailand.

The Federal Court of Malaysia finalised the case and ordered his extradition on April 26 this year, Pol Col Songsak said.

By Sutthiwit Chayutworakan