Boonlua Chatree
Two foreigners were arrested after a French embassy
official determined that the passports they used to open a Pattaya bank
account were fake.
Somehow, Emma managed to grow
a mustache and beard…
Going under the names “Karl Heinz Kirsch” and “Emma
Katherine Smith,” the suspects were taken into custody at a Kasikorn Bank
branch at Central Festival Pattaya Beach after Kirsch went in to complain
about why he was unable to use an ATM to withdraw money from his account.
Police believe that Karl Heinz Kirsch might actually be
Joseph Conteh, but have thus far been unable to determine the true identity
of “Emma Katherine Smith”. No doubt the giveaway was that the person using
the “Emma Katherine Smith” passport was actually a man. Not exactly a very
smart man, either.
Bank employee Sirichai Sathitchaipas had frozen the
account and called police after suspecting Kirsch’s passport was fake.
Police contacted Eric Jerancelet, a police liaison with the French embassy,
who confirmed that not only Kirsch’s passport, but Smith’s as well had been
counterfeited.
Police said the two men admitted to buying the fake
passports in the Ivory Coast with the intent of opening bank accounts. The
account, containing just under 70,000 baht, has been frozen and authorities
are now trying to trace past transactions.
