Pattaya Daily News

Published : July 01, 2010 :: 17:07:24 [ 3,407 views ]

An alleged Belgian conman has been arrested in Pattaya on Thursday. The arrest was made after joint efforts by Thai and Belgian authorities uncovered the whereabouts of the offender, wanted on several criminal charges in his homeland. Background checks revealed that he has also been staying illegally in the Kingdom of Thailand since the start of January 2010.

Pattaya, the 1^st of July 2010 [PDN]: In the continued crackdown on transnational criminals and foreign fugitives in Thailand, Chon-Buri Immigration police successfully arrested the wanted Belgian conman Mr. Marc Jacobs [50] on Thursday.

Colonel Athitsawad Kamonrat (Chon-Buri Immigration Superintendant) along with a team of investigators actioned a raid at the Malee House residence in Pratamnak, were they successfully apprehended Mr. Jacobs. The arrest followed a request for assistance in apprehending the fugitive presented to the Thai authorities by the Belgian government recently.

Mr. Jacobs, a former Belgian Police Officer between 2000-2008, is wanted in Belgium on a number of fraud and deception related charges including; impersonating a Belgian Police Office (after having left the force), Impersonating Belgian government officials and/or a representative of the Belgian police in Thailand. Thai police confiscated various official documents in Mr. Jacob’s possession including government identification cards and forged official documents, believed to have been used to propagate various scams against Belgian citizens living in Thailand.

Reportedly, many individuals, both in Thailand and Belgium, have been scammed/deceived by Mr. Jacob’s leading Belgian authorities to request immediate assistance from the Thai police in apprehending him.

Following the initial investigation, Thai Immigration authorities also found that Mr. Jacob’s had been staying in the Kingdom illegally. Having arrived on the 10th of December 2009 his visa had expired on the 8^th of January 2010 with no attempts made to renew it.

At present Mr. Jacob’s has been detained at the Pattaya Police Station where he is expected to remain awaiting further judicial proceedings to commence. Following prosecution in Thailand he will be duly deported back to Belgium to face further criminal proceeds.

Note: In an exclusive interview with Pattaya Daily News, Mr. Jacobs stated that he had been staying in Thailand illegally having run out of money to renew his visa or return to Belgium. In relation to the charges of fraud and deception being levelled against him, Mr. Jacobs revealed that he had merely mentioned being a police officer or representative of the Belgian police in several, self-confessed, drunken discussion at his local bar in Pattaya. Apart from the overstay of his visa he alleges that an outstanding “bar tab” is his only wrongdoing, both in Thailand and Belgium, and that he was in a state of shock as to how the situation had progressed so rapidly.

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Type : Crime News
Story : Kampee
Photo : Kampee

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