Cops apply quick fix over mistaken 'mule accounts'

Police yesterday launched new measures to speed up the unfreezing of bank accounts mistakenly linked to "mule accounts", promising to resolve cases in less than half a day.

- MONGKOL BANGPRAPA

The move follows calls from the Thai Consumers Council (TCC) for banks to stop mule accounts at the source to protect innocent citizens. Mule accounts, used for transferring illicit funds from scams, gambling, or money laundering, are often opened by criminals or by individuals hired to do so.

National police chief Pol Gen Kittharath Punpetch said the new process was created in coordination with the Bank of Thailand, commercial banks, the Cyber Crime Prevention, Suppression Operation Center (PCT), and the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB).