A former Pattaya police volunteer who fled Thailand last year amid extortion and bribery charges has been arrested after returning to the country under a new name.
Jesper Kongerstkov Hansen, now going by the name of Leon Christiansen, was taken into custody when he went to the Chon Buri immigration office Jomtien Beach to renew his visa on Tuesday, said Pol Col Prapansak Prasarnsuk, chief of the provincial immigration office.
The 51-year-old Dane was wanted on a 2012 warrant from the Pattaya Provincial Court for allegedly extorting 800,000 baht from a fellow countryman then using some of the money to pay a Pattaya City police officer to drop the case.
At the time, Mr Hansen was one of a number of foreign police volunteers in the Bang Lamung district resort town. He was brought into to assist with the arrest of a fellow Dane accused of molesting a boy under age 15, Thai and local media reported.
Mr Hansen allegedly told his compatriot he could quash the case for a fee of 800,000 baht. The suspect is accused of later offering some amount of the cash to the investigating officer, who refused the bribe and brought charges against Mr Hansen.
He reportedly fled the country in 2014 with all the bribe money.
Despite the outstanding warrant, Mr Hansen returned to Thailand after changing his name and obtaining a new passport, renting a condominium in Pattaya.
Authorities, however, were aware of his former identity and prepared an arrest warrant from the Pattaya court on Nov 6 and waited for him to appear at immigration before making the arrest.