Senior State Bank Clerk Arrested for Embezzling 60 Million Baht

Police in central Thailand have arrested a former senior bank clerk for allegedly siphoning more than 60 million baht from customers accounts. Police arrested Ms Waranya Wiriya, 55, a housing estate in Nonthaburi on Friday.

A spokesperson from the police Economic Crime Suppression Division (ECD) said the embezzlement occurred at a state-owned bank in Chanthaburi province where Ms Waranya use to work.

Ms Waranya was wanted on a warrant issued by the Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct offences by employees of state enterprise and theft of documents and computer data.

She had fled before her subsequent court trial for the offences concluded.

The suspect was a former senior financial employee of a Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives branch in Chanthaburi province. She was responsible for taking care of customers’ deposits and withdrawals.

The offences took place between Oct 25, 2016 and March 27, 2018. Withdrawals were made from customers’ accounts via the bank’s computer system in amounts ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 baht at a time.

Ultimately, hundreds of withdrawals were made, totalling 60 million baht.

The thefts came to light when customers seeking to make withdrawals found there was far less money in their accounts than there should have been. Many filed complaints with the police and the court approved a warrant for Ms Waranya’s arrest.

A police source said the bank had repaid the money to the damaged parties.

The woman had surrendered to police when the scandal first broke, and the case was later brought to the court. During the trial, Ms Waranya claimed she was addicted to gambling.

However, she did not return to hear the court ruling and fled before being caught in Nonthaburi on Friday.