Three Eastern Europeans were arrested for allegedly using counterfeit credit cards and currency to go on a shopping spree in Pattaya.
Igor Britvich, 36 from Russia, and Arman Shegelov, 30 from Kazakhstan, were apprehended at Central Festival Pattaya Beach with three fake cards and two watches they purchased.
Peter Viktorov Lipovl from Bulgaria was apprehended in a separate arrest at Tesco Lotus North Pattaya with three fake ATM cards, a list of PIN codes, an electronic chip and several thousand baht in fake currency.
Police said the two arrests were not related.
Lipovl is the suspect in four cases at the same Tesco Lotus Sept. 14 where vendors reported they were victims of funny money. Jirdej Nomnoey, who operates a phone-accessory kiosk said a 1,000-baht note he received for a small purchase from a foreign man was bogus. He added that three other phone shops and a popcorn stand suffered similar fates.
Britvich and Shegelov were arrested after a tip from Siam Commercial Bank and Kasikornbank that fake cards were being used at the beachfront mall. Police staked out Central Festival until identifying the suspects and waited until they made another purchase to swoop in.
Police said the three combined had managed to scam banks and retailers out of about 200,000 baht.
