Police have arrested a former Nakhon Phanom senator for allegedly acting as a loan shark in a raid that also saw 260 million baht worth of his family's assets impounded.
Itthiphon Rueangworabun, 74, and his 49-year-old daughter, denied loan-sharking, but agreed to have their assets examined.
The pair, who were both subject to court arrest warrants, insisted their business dealings "were all above board and in line with the law," Pol Lt Gen Surachate Hakparn, deputy chief of Thailand's Action Taskforce for Information Technology Crime (Tactics) said yesterday.
He was speaking after members of the unit raided the former senator's home in Nakhon Phanom's Sri Songkhram district.
Investigators were not convinced, he said. The Anti-Money Laundering Office will examine the seized assets thoroughly to prove whether Mr Itthiphon and his daughter Kurap were involved in cheating people by charging exceptionally high interest rates or demanding valuables from those who borrowed money.
The assets in question include three homes, four shophouses, 130-baht weight in gold, three cars and five guns.
"We assured them they would be treated fairly," said Pol Lt Gen Surachate, who is also the Immigration Bureau chief.
But authorities will not tolerate predatory lenders as the government has vowed to weed them out to help poor villagers, he said.
The raid was one of several targeting 13 suspects in five provinces, covering Nakhon Phanom, Bung Kan, Roi Et, Nakhon Ratchasima and Ubon Ratchathani. In Nakhon Phanom alone, officials seized up to 150 land documents from suspects.
