(L to R) Ukrainians
Andrii Balaiev, Ievgenii Salogub, and Vitalii Stryhun have been arrested
and charged with counterfeiting electronic cards to use in theft.
Boonlua Chatree
Three Ukrainian men were arrested for allegedly using
fake electronic cards to steal money from ATMs in Pattaya.
Ievgenii Salogub, 24; Andrii Balaiev, 25; and Vitalii
Stryhun, 25, were apprehended in separate arrests March 30 following a
tip from a Siam Commercial Bank fraud expert that a foreigner had used a
counterfeit bank card to steal more than 10 million baht from the bank’s
ATMs.
Investigators found their suspect, Salogub, in a room
at a Second Road hotel with 11 fake bank cards. After three hours of
interrogation, police said, the Ukrainian gave up his friend, Balaiev.
Police found Balaiev drinking at a bar on Walking
Street with 20,000 baht and 12 fake ATM cards in his bag. He, too, was
taken to the Transnational Crime Coordination Center where he underwent
another three hours of interrogation.
At that point, police said, the suspect said a third
man, Stryhun, was working with them. Police arrested him at the LK
Metropole Hotel and seized seven fake cards.
All three were charged with counterfeiting electronic
cards to use in theft.
