The Bangkok Post has reported that Stefano Raccagni, 38, and Eve Paoletti, 47, wanted for a large scale fraud in Europe were finally arrested in Thailand last Thursday.
Italian Mr Raccagni, was arrested at a house in the Chiang Mai and faces charges of defrauding Italian banks and financial companies of more than USD 8.6 million (THB 257,010,896.56). He is also wanted in Italy on suspicion of being part of a Milan-based gang that smuggled people into the country.
Immigration police have also arrested Ms Paoletti, a French national, on Koh Samui. She is wanted in France for alleged $1.3 million fraud involving contracts to build homes.
Chaninat and Leeds specializes in international criminal cases in Thailand
The arrests come close to a year after Vito Roberto Palazzolo was detained at Suvarnabhumi airport after being implicated in the “Pizza Connection”, a $1.6 billion heroin and cocaine smuggling operation that used New York pizzerias as fronts from 1975 to 1984. A Thai court ordered his extradition to Ital in December 2012.
Thailand’s other recent extradition hearing concerned Viktor Bout, a Russian national who was arrested in Thailand in 2008 and extradicted to the US in 2012 was then subsequently convicted in 2011 of arms trafficking.
Relevant Law: Thailand Extradition Act 2551
Related articles: Prominent Extradition Cases in Thailand – Snaring Minor Offenders to Big Time Crooks
