A 24-year-old woman who was accused of being embroiled in a so-called romance scam and inventing an identity card theft story to avoid arrest was freed yesterday after police cleared up allegations against her.
The Tak Provincial Court yesterday ordered the release of Nicha Kiartthanapaiboon after a police probe indicated the woman did not commit any wrongdoing. Ms Nicha had earlier been released on bail during the police investigation.
Tak Provincial Police submitted a permanent release request to the court on Jan 5 after its investigation team overseeing the case found Ms Nicha had done nothing wrong.
Shortly after her release, Ms Nicha, accompanied by her lawyer, lodged a petition with Yongyut Thammanittayangkul, chief of the Tak Provincial Justice Office, seeking help from the agency to obtain compensation for her previous detention in the provincial prison.
Ms Nicha was earlier arrested after being charged with fraud, following a complaint to Tak police by a female scam victim.
Ms Nicha subsequently claimed she herself fell prey to a gang after her ID card, which went missing, was used to open bank accounts to receive money wired from victims.
Police initially suspected Ms Nicha may have cried wolf after they found substantial transactions in her genuine bank accounts, including one she received from a gangster suspect.
Police also questioned why Ms Nicha applied for ID cards frequently in the past.
The investigation later found Pawina Singwibun, one of four suspects held in the case, did transfer money to Ms Nicha's bank account, but this was Ms Pawina's mistake and had nothing to do with Ms Nicha.
Ms Pawina was allegedly hired by Cameroon national Simon Eko Ayuk to use stolen identity cards to open five bank accounts including those under Ms Nicha's name. The gang made money from women tricked by its members exploiting love ties to gain their trust.
Mr Yongyut yesterday said Ms Nicha was able to demand compensation for the costs of lawyer, travel and other expenses incurred during the case. The compensation issue would be left to the office's committee supervising the issue, chaired by the provincial governor.
