PUBLISHED : 25 Aug 2025 at 11:47
Police have arrested a 26-year-old man accused of deliberately driving vehicles into waterways in order to fraudulently claim insurance payouts totalling around one million baht.
Investigators said at least four cars covered by multiple policies were deliberately crashed into canals over a one-month period.
The suspect, identified only as Mr Anucha, was detained on Monday in Ratchaburi under a warrant issued by Phra Khanong Criminal Court.
He faces charges of attempted fraud and dishonestly seeking insurance compensation. The Central Investigation Bureau and the Economic Crime Suppression Division led the operation.
The case began in May when an insurance company filed a complaint after detecting irregularities in a claim made by Mr Anucha, who had reported his car plunged into a canal in Nakhon Pathom province.
The company suspended payment and alerted police, prompting a wider investigation.
Police later discovered Mr Anucha had leased four cars in quick succession and insured them with multiple firms. Within months, all four cars were reported to have skidded into waterways. Insurers were deceived and paid out about 900,000 baht, and additional claims under review could push the total beyond one million baht.
According to investigators, the fraud involved four people. Mr Anucha allegedly financed the cars but made only one payment on each before transferring them to his associates. They then staged accidents along isolated canal roads in Nakhon Pathom, Ratchaburi and Kanchanaburi, and filed claims for full losses or fictitious repairs.
Insurance payouts were tracked to relatives’ accounts and had been withdrawn in cash.
The suspect denied the charges and said he had sold the cars to other people.
Mr Anucha reportedly admitted to buying and insuring the vehicles and receiving insurance money, but denied involvement in orchestrating the crashes.
Police are expanding the investigation to track down his alleged accomplices.
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Based in New York, Stephen Freeman is a Senior Editor at Trending Insurance News. Previously he has worked for Forbes and The Huffington Post. Steven is a graduate of Risk Management at the University of New York.