Bangkok rocked by police football corruption charges

Bangkok police authorities have been rocked by news of corruption and bribery relating to betting on football.

Yesterday four police officers turned themselves in after receiving charges of taking bribes from a gambling network run by the Abubakar bin Sulaiman gang. The four police officers are among fourteen suspects whom arrest warrants were issued last week relating to bribery and corruption charges by the ThaiPolice Bureau.

Thai news reports state that nine of the fourteen suspects are thought to be police officers. Bangkok’s Metropolitan Police Division has charged the officers with corruption and negligence of police authority.

The charged police officers have been accused of taking bribes from a football betting criminal syndicate, after evidence was uncovered in the ongoing criminal case against criminal leader Abubakar bin Sulaiman.

The police officers formed part of Bangkok’s Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), which had been under investigation for several months by special criminal investigative units.

Thai news reports expect further arrests in the coming weeks, and have reported that several Bangkok police officers have been suspended from work due to their potential involvement with the corrupted officers and their operations.