Wife of ‘Big Joke’ answers theft charge

The wife of the former high-profile police general Surachate “Big Joke” Hakparn reported to police on Thursday to answer charges of breaking into a condominium room and stealing valuables worth 5.7 million baht.
Sirinadda Hakparn, accompanied by a lawyer, arrived at the Phra Khanong police station in Bangkok at 2.40pm to meet investigators after the Phra Khanong Criminal Court approved a warrant for her arrest.
Upon her arrival at the station, reporters pressed her for details, including the reported use of a keycard to open a condominium room belonging to someone else. “It’s not true. I will assign my lawyer to handle any issues that cause damage,” Ms Sirinadda said before meeting with investigators.
After a four-hour interrogation, Ms Sirinadda was released on bail of 105,000 baht. She avoided reporters on her way out of the station. Her lawyer said she denied all charges.
Thanattha Yodyiam, 50, a special lecturer at the Royal Police Cadet Academy in Sam Phran district of Nakhon Pathom, filed a complaint with police on Oct 20, accusing Ms Sirinadda of theft from her room in the Green Condo on Sukhumvit Soi 101 in Phra Khanong district of Bangkok.
The complainant said she lived with her husband Pheemphot Nomchobphitak in the unit on the seventh floor of the building before they moved to a condo in Salaya district of Nakhon Pathom, which was near their workplace at the police cadet academy.
The alleged theft occurred at about 2pm on Aug 18 this year, according to the complaint. On that day, Ms Thanattha asked her nephew Phongphat Voraket to get some items from her room at the Green Condo. Upon emerging from the  elevator, he saw Ms Sirinadda using a keycard to open the door.
Mr Phongphat phoned his aunt, who rushed back from Nakhon Pathom to check on her belongings at the Bangkok condo. She found that gold ornaments weighing 120 baht (1.8 kilogrammes) and 600,000 baht in cash had disappeared. The losses totalled 5.7 million baht.
Ms Thanattha said she and her husband had purchased the gold ornaments for their wedding party this coming February. They had registered their marriage in May this year.
She said she had tried in vain to contact Ms Sirinadda via phone and Line. She then wrote a letter asking for the return of the items and tried to hand-deliver it to Ms Sirinadda’s home on Sept 17. A security guard told her to give it to a police officer who was guarding the house of Pol Gen Surachate, according to Ms Thanattha.
However, no assets were returned, and she finally filed the police complaint. 
A source familiar with the case said Ms Thanattha’s husband was a police colonel and used to work with Pol Gen Surachate.
Ms Sirinadda, 50, comes from wealth, as the daughter of a Songkhla businessman who made his fortune in bus transport. Her husband is also a Songkhla native and began his police career there.
Pol Gen Surachate, a former deputy national police chief who was seen as a front-runner for the chief’s position, was dismissed from the force in August.
The dismissal order stemmed from allegations that he was involved in an online gambling network, into which investigations are continuing.