PHAYAO: The Justice Ministry will investigate the case of an intellectually impaired man whose identity was stolen and used to get 11 credit cards, leaving him with 610,000 baht in debts.
Authorities promised to look further into the case when 46-year-old Thanawat Promwong, accompanied by his elder sister, filed a complaint with the delegation of visiting Justice Minister Suwaphan Tanyuvardhana on Wednesday.
Buachon Manrai, 47, said her brother had never applied for a credit card because he was intellectually impaired and his income too small to meet the criterion.
However, he had been billed for a total of 610,000 baht drawn on 11 credit cards in his name.
The sister suspected his identity had been stolen and copies of his ID used to apply for the credit cards.
She said Mr Thanawat first faced a lawsuit for a debt in 2003. They did not know how to defend him and the court issued an order to turn over an inherited section of land worth 40,000 baht in repayment.
The sister had then borrowed the same amount from the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) to buy the land back. She had yet to repay the loan from the bank.
More repayment demands followed in 2008, and later from eight financial institutions - both for personal loans and a vehicle debt, she said.
Accepting the complaint, Songsak Raksaksakul, deputy director-general of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), said Mr Thanawat was probably not the only victim of such scams in the North.
He asked police and administrators in Phayao and the northern branch of the DSI to investigate the case. Initially officials would check the handwriting and signatures on credit card and loan application documents.
Tawatchai Thaikyo, deputy permanent secretary for justice, said he doubted Mr Thanawat had applied for a credit card because the man was unable to take care of himself. The DSI would reinvestigate the case and propose a retrial, he said.
