BANGKOK, Jan 10 (TNA) – Five African men are arrested for
visa-forging after a Thai immigration officer was dismissed for corruption and
forgery.
Thailand’s Immigration Bureau chief Pol Lt-General Surachate
Hakparn said the five Africans had carried multiple passports with forged visas
for their extended stays in the Kingdom.
The suspects — Olawale Raimi, 33, from Nigeria; Jonas
Silva, 39, from Guinea-Bissau; Riches Obbonna Onu, 44, from Nigeria; Tshepo
Zuma, 37, from South Africa; and Ouattara Ben Ibrahim, 21, from Ivory Coast –
were brought to the press briefing on Wednesday.
They were among 12 foreigners who obtained forged visas from
the unnamed immigration officer who had been sacked pending disciplinary and
criminal investigations, Pol Lt-General Surachet said.
The Thai immigration officers has reportedly confessed of
forging documents in exchange for Bt5,000 each time.
Police seek to implicate more accomplices who have been
involved in the crimes and to identify legal loopholes.(TNA)
