A Russian tourist, enjoying a luxurious vacation in Phuket with friends, has been arrested by Kamala police for using counterfeit U.S. dollar bills to exchange for Thai baht. The woman, identified as Evgenia, 22, claimed she was unaware the bills were fake, stating they were given to her by her father.
The arrest took place on July 28, after a complaint was filed by a currency exchange booth employee at a Big C store in Kamala, Kathu District, Phuket. The employee reported receiving counterfeit foreign currency between July 23 and 27. Following an investigation, police apprehended Evgenia at a pool villa in Kamala, where she was staying with three other Russian nationals. During the arrest, authorities seized 32 counterfeit 50-dollar bills.
Evgenia told investigators that her father had given her 60 fifty-dollar bills for her trip to Phuket. On July 23, she exchanged four of these bills at the currency exchange booth, receiving 5,348 baht. She claimed she was unaware that the bills were fake, as the exchange went through without any issues.
The investigation began when the currency exchange booth staff noticed that three of the four bills exchanged by Evgenia were counterfeit. The employee had already taken a copy of her passport, aiding in the police’s identification of the suspect. Upon further inspection, police discovered a total of 32 counterfeit bills mixed with genuine currency, from a total of 75 fifty-dollar bills found with the group.
Authorities are currently investigating whether Evgenia and her companions are connected to an international criminal organization involved in counterfeiting U.S. currency, which has been circulating in tourist areas. The charges against Evgenia include importing counterfeit currency into the kingdom and attempting to use counterfeit currency, as per Section 240 of the Thai Penal Code.
Evgenia and her friends reportedly traveled from Moscow, Russia, with a stopover in Shanghai before arriving in Phuket on July 22. They checked into the pool villa in Kamala and later exchanged the counterfeit currency at the Big C store. The investigation is ongoing to determine if the counterfeit bills were exchanged elsewhere and to identify any additional victims.
Pol. Col. Somsak Thongkliang, Superintendent of Kamala Police Station, stated that they are extending the investigation to track down any missing counterfeit bills and gather more evidence.
