Foreigner caught in fake credit card scam bust
Police yesterday arrested a Briton for allegedly making, using and selling fake credit cards.
He is suspected of belonging to a crime syndicate involving Thai and Malaysian accomplices.Police said Patrick Lazerian Marher, 37, was arrested after selling a fake credit card to an undercover policeman at his apartment on Sukhumvit Soi 6. A mobile phone, computer notebook, 22 counterfeit credit cards and a magnetic-strip reader were found there. Police said Marher would plead guilty to the charges. He remained in custody. A Standard Chartered (Thailand) official Parnjit Sunalai said he suspected retailers co-operated with the suspect. He cited jewellery and souvenir sellers. He estimated the gang had purchased as much as Bt100 million in goods with fake cards. Parnjit said credit-card fraud was now rampant in Thailand. Cards issued in Malaysia - once a haven for fraudulent plastic - were now equipped with silicon chips and not easily-forged magnetic strips.
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