The military junta is asking commercial banks to investigate more than 400 accounts of clients who have been imprisoned and whose names appear on a list of money-laundering suspects.
Secretary-general Pol Col Sihanart Prayoonrat of the Anti-Money Laundering Organisation is cooperating with military authorities to investigate suspicious money movements by suspected launderers, and prison inmates. (File photo)
At a National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) seminar Thursday, attended by bank representatives, assistant army chief Gen Paibul Khumchaya in his capacity as head of the junta's judicial affairs sector asked for cooperation from banks to monitor and report transactions of bank accounts belonging to more than 400 prison inmates to the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo).
A list of inmates with bank accounts with unusual transaction flows was presented to the NCPO by Amlo, he said. Amlo has also sent the banks a list of account owners who may be involved in money laundering.
The banks have been warned not to allow prison inmates to make transactions which could facilitate money laundering while they are behind bars, said Gen Paibul.
The bank themselves should take measures to ensure no dirty money is circulated in their systems, he said.
The military had a list of inmates who are suspected of dealing in drugs via phone from inside prisons, he said.
"If this continues, it may not be suitable for the director-general of the Corrections Department to keep his post," Gen Paibul said.
"Financial institutions should also not let people continue to jeopardise national security," he said. All parties need to cooperate to weed out money laundering, he added.
Amlo secretary-general Seehanart Prayoonrat said banks have also been told to monitor 1,100 bank accounts whose owners are drug dealers and major players in gambling.
But these names — which have been compiled by the Office of the Narcotics Control Board and the Narcotics Suppression Bureau — still need final verification from Amlo before being sent to banks nationwide, he said.
Initially, Amlo would ask banks to monitor 470 bank accounts it suspects are being used for money-laundering purposes, including call centre scam gangs and tax fraudsters, Pol Col Seehanart said.
If the banks do not comply, Amlo will fine them 500,000 baht for each account they were told to investigate, he said.
Banks must also classify suspect bank accounts into three groups of high, moderate and low risk, he said.
About 200 officials searched part of Klongprem Central Prison in Bangkok yesterday but found nothing illegal.
The search team comprised narcotics suppression police, soldiers and Corrections Department officials. Pol Col Chatree Paisalsilp, deputy commander of the Narcotic Suppression Bureau, and Prasert Yusupharp, the governor of the prison, led the raid.
The operation targeted Zone 2 where 841 major drug offenders are jailed. Many drug traffickers who had been arrested in the past said they had received orders from prisoners in this zone.
The search team did find bank passbooks with savings of between 6,000 and 150,000 baht in each, mobile phone SIM cards, notebooks recording sums of money and phone numbers, and cough medicine.
Mr Prasert said searches at the prison had started on June 9 as ordered by the NCPO and so far, officials have seized 16 mobile phones, 0.5 grammes of crystal methamphetamine, and some sharpened steel rods.
Soldiers search Zone 2 of Klongprem Central Prison in Bangkok, where a total of 841 major drug offenders are jailed. No contraband was found in the search yesterday. The move, ordered by the military junta, was part of a crackdown on drug trafficking in prisons. (Photo by Pattanapong Hirunard)