Thai ID fraud ring busted in Chiang Mai - Bangkok Post

Officials question people suspected of being involved in illegally issuing civil registration documents and identification cards for non-Thai nationals during a crackdown operation in Fang district of Chiang Mai on Thursday. (Photo: DOPA N.I.C.E.-Center) Authorities have arrested a municipal mayor and a number of other central and local government officials during a crackdown on a civil registration fraud network in Fang district of Chiang Mai province.

A combined team led by officials from the Department of Provincial Administration (DOPA) launched the operation against the network that illegally arranged civil registration and identification cards for non-Thai nationals.

Investigators found that civil servants and executives of local administrative organisations were involved in facilitating the process and approving fraudulent documents.

Authorities then gathered evidence and obtained 79 arrest warrants for suspects.

Officers also raided several target locations, including residences and premises linked to a network known as “Mingchen C4”, to collect further evidence and seize assets believed to have been acquired through illegal activities, according to the National Identity Crime Enforcement unit of the DOPA.

Workpoint TV 23 reported that the mayor of Wiang Fang municipality in Chiang Mai was arrested at a hospital. Evidence reportedly linked the mayor to the scheme, with suspicious activities dating back to his time as a village headman.

Investigators are now expanding the probe to identify and apprehend additional members of the network.

Deputy Interior Minister Worasit Liangprasit was scheduled to provide an official briefing and summary of the operation on Friday.

Also involved in this week’s crackdown operation were police and officials from the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission the Anti-Money Laundering Office and the Department of Special Investigation.

The Ministry of Interior recently tightened birth registration rules in response to an endless stream of reports about corruption in the civil registration system in Thailand.

Among the most egregious examples has been the “fake fathers” racket, in which Thai men are paid to pose as the fathers of children born to foreign women, mostly Chinese, for registration purposes.

Officials seize weapons and other items during the crackdown operation in Chiang Mai on Thursday. (Photo: DOPA N.I.C.E.-Center)