BANGKOK — A foreign couple, consisting of Chinese and Kazakh nationals, jointly deceived a middleman by selling counterfeit luxury watches of the brand Patek Philippe to a watch store for up to 12 million baht. Their scheme was initially successful, but they were later caught.
On July 3, 2024, Police Major General Phantana Nuchnarot, Deputy Commissioner of Immigration, and the Immigration Team at the Muang Thong Thani Immigration Office announced the arrest of a foreign couple: Mr. Alkas, 32, a Kazakh national, and Ms. Billy (alias), 38, a Chinese national. They were arrested on a warrant issued by the South Bangkok District Court on 21 May 2023 for ‘joint fraud’.”
They were arrested at a condominium in Sukhumvit Soi 32, Klongton Subdistrict, Klongtoey District, Bangkok.
The two suspects jointly brought counterfeit Patek Philippe watches to deceive a middleman who acted as an intermediary in the buying and selling of watches. They claimed they would pay a reward of USD 800 per watch for the sale of the watches.
When the middleman agreed, the suspects presented Patek Philippe watches along with documents from a well-known watch testing business, claiming that these documents would confirm the authenticity of the watches. The middleman then sold the watches to a reputable watch store, which transferred 12 million baht ($327,000) to the suspects.
Later, the owner of the watch store discovered that the watches and the certification documents were fake and filed a complaint with the Thonglor police station to prosecute the middleman. After negotiations, the middleman agreed to compensate the store owner and filed a complaint with the Thonglor Police Station to prosecute Mr. Alkas and Ms. Billy.
Immigration police coordinated with Thonglor Police Station to track down the two suspects and eventually located them in a room of a condominium on Sukhumvit Soi 32. They were arrested and handed over to Thonglor Police Station for prosecution.
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