The couple went out to buy a printer after becoming inspired by a Tik Tok video on the popular Chinese social network. The acceptance of their first forged note by an ATM machine thrilled the pair so much that they got carried away by their enthusiasm even though the crime was always doomed to fail.
A young Thai couple may be facing up to fifteen years in prison following their arrest on Sunday after getting carried away with a Tik Tok video leading on to the use of a colour printer to counterfeit banknotes which they lodged to ATMs in Nakhon Sawan province.
A Thai couple were arrested by police in Nakhon Sawan province on Sunday last after getting carried away with a counterfeit scheme using local ATM machines and a recently purchased colour printer to lodge photocopied currency to a bank account.
Investigating officers in Nakhon Sawan reported that, in all, the couple managed to credit ฿60,900 to their account using the home-produced notes. Some of the money credited to their accounts was withdrawn and spent by the pair using real cash.
Arrested on Sunday in the Nong Bua district
The two were named as 27-year-old Nathapong Nakpasing and 21-year-old Sasinapa Nakpasing. They were arrested when police swooped on their home in the Nong Bua district of the province in central Thailand.
This followed a short police investigation which linked them to the crime after a formal complaint was lodged by a banking services firm.
Home Printer at the centre of the criminal enterprise
Police confirmed that they had seized the items used in the counterfeiting enterprise launched by the pair which primarily included a home colour printer used to reproduce banknotes in two denominations.
Police disclosed that the pair confined their efforts to ฿100 and ฿ 500 notes.
When arrested at their home, police recovered one counterfeited ฿500 note and 609 ฿100 notes.
Severe penalty awaits the couple for the crime
The two immediately confessed to the counterfeiting enterprise which comes with very severe penalties in Thailand.
Jailtime can range from five years to fifteen years. The pair may also be conceivably tried for fraud for this particular criminal undertaking.
Inspired by a Tik Tok video
The couple told investigators that the idea had occurred to them while using the Chinese social media network Tik Tok. They had purchased a colour printer to see if it worked.
When the ATM accepted one of the home-printed banknotes and credited it to Mr Nathapong’s bank account, they were energised by this success and became carried away with the scheme.
Complaint made by ATM service firm which quickly linked the crime to a Kasikorn Bank account
Police brought a halt to the escapade after receiving a formal complaint from the firm which operates inward cash vending for ATMs in Thailand, Ban Telecom (2005) Co Ltd.
The complaint, at the outset, had attached the funds deposited through various ATMs to a particular account with Kasikorn Bank.
It was a crime that, once detected, was doomed to fail.
CCTV footage shows the couple, on a motorbike, making deposits at a range of ATMs and locations
Police, as well as having an identity for the culprits through the bank account which belonged to Mr Nathapong, also obtained CCTV footage from various ATMs.
The footage showed a young couple with a motorbike busy making multiple deposits at a range of machines at different locations.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Thanit Nanthawisit of Nakhon Sawan police told the press that the company which operated the ATMs, had admitted that there was a fault with sensors on some of the machines that had allowed what were essentially photocopies of currency notes to be validated through the banking system.
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