A Swiss man was detained in Surat Thani for illegally re-entering Thailand after having been deported to his home country to face a prison sentence for bank robbery five years ago, police said.
He will again be deported back home, this time to face charges of intentionally transmitting HIV to others.
Enzo Gerber, 42, has been detained on Koh Samui in Surat Thani since March 14 when the tourist police fanned out in a special operation aimed at cracking down on foreigners unlawfully staying in Thailand, Pol Maj Gen Surachet Hakpal, deputy commissioner of the Tourist Police Division, said yesterday.
Before fleeing to Thailand, Mr Gerber faced an arrest warrant issued in Switzerland for allegedly spreading HIV to others intentionally, said Pol Maj Gen Surachet.
With his passport cancelled, the Swiss man sneaked into Thailand through Satun province in the South and was later arrested in Surat Thani, said Pol Maj Gen Surachet.
In May 2013, Mr Gerber was apprehended in tambon Thab Tai of Prachuap Khiri Khan's Hua Hin district by a team of officials from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI).
At that time, he had fled to Thailand after facing an arrest warrant for robbing a bank in Bern, Switzerland and making off with US$670,000, or more than 20 million baht.
After the Thai police were alerted by their Swiss counterparts, the DSI seized the suspect's 5-million-baht house, bank accounts with 4 million baht in cash, 60,000 Swiss francs (about 1.8 million baht), 13.5 baht-weight of gold jewellery worth about 263,000 baht and 19 vehicles, including cars and motorcycles.
Mr Gerber was then deported to Switzerland where he was sentenced to two years and six months in prison for the robbery, said Pol Maj Gen Surachet.
