Teerarak Suthathiwong
A suspected Ukrainian mobster has been charged with orchestrating the
kidnapping of a fellow countryman who supposedly owed him money.
Achanai Inpan.
Illia Maisnikov, 48, was arrested Sept. 26 at his Real
Diamond TV Co. on Jomtien Second Road following the earlier arrests of three
Thais he allegedly hired to kidnap 29-year-old Alexander Konratenko outside
the Shakespeare Hotel in Jomtien Beach a day earlier.
Maisnikov was charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping and robbery. He
denied all the charges. Achanai Inpan, 20, and Piya Inpan, 35, of Chiang
Rai; and Wuthiphat Thimthiem, 49, of Banglamung were charged with
kidnapping, robbery and impersonating police.
The ordeal began for Konratenko when he went to the Welcome Beach Hotel in
Jomtien Sept. 26 to meet a foreign man said to be interested in buying his
motorbike. The buyer never showed and, as Konratenko was ready to leave, a
Honda City pulled up and three men got out, claiming to be Chonburi
Immigration Police officers. All carried walkie-talkies and had badges,
Konratenko told police.
Achanai allegedly told the Ukrainian that police had been searching for him
for three years for cheating tourists with fake tour packages and not
refunding rental-car deposits. They told him he faced 10 years in jail and
put him in the compact sedan. Konratenko realized the men were not real
officers when they took him to bungalow in North Pattaya where they took
4,800 baht from him, he told police.
Konratenko said the kidnappers demanded 300,000 baht, then upped the demand
to 1 million baht after speaking to “their boss” on the telephone.
Konratenko said he negotiated the ransom down to 500,000 baht, but convinced
the Thais he needed to meet a friend near the Ambassador City Hotel to
borrow the money.
Piya Inpan.
While waiting for his friend at a 7-Eleven in front of
the hotel, he screamed for help and gained the assistance of two Russian
tourists. Realizing their gig was up, the Thais fled. No ransom money was
ever exchanged.
The kidnappers’ faces were captured on security camera footage at the
convenience store and, based on interrogation of Achanai and Piya, as well
as Konratenko’s statement, police picked up Maisnikov, who police allege is
connected to an Eastern European crime gang. Wuthiphat turned himself in
later.
Police alleged Maisnikov runs scams that cheat Eastern European tourists
and, when they go to authorities for help, he offers to act as a mediator
for a handsome fee. Those who do not pay, like Konratenko are threatened or
even kidnapped for ransom, police said.
Illia Maisnikov.
Wuthiphat Thimthiem.
