The director of the finance division at a local government body in Yasothon province has been arrested for allegedly embezzling 9 million baht in state funds, police said on Wednesday.
Wanida Rothom, 46, was arrested in her office at the Khamphai tambon administration organisation (TAO) headquarters in Thai Charoen district of the northeastern province. An arrest warrant issued by the Region 3 Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct said the charges included embezzlement and malfeasance.
The arrest followed a complaint that Ms Wanida had exploited her position to fabricate budget disbursement requests using her own name and the names of other officials who had earlier transferred or retired.
The money was transferred to her personal bank account, said Pol Maj Gen Gen Jaroonkiat Pankaew, deputy commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau.
A financial audit revealed that Ms Wanida carried out 27 fraudulent transactions totalling more than 9 million baht from 2024 to the present, he said.
Of the amount, about 6 million baht was transferred to her bank account and the remaining 3 million to accounts of relatives or close associates, said Pol Maj Gen Jaroonkiat.
During questioning, Ms Wanida admitted to having embezzled funds, citing her own money problems. She claimed she had borrowed money using loan apps and had to pay high interest fees.
She said she had also fallen victim to a call centre scam gang that swindled huge sums of money from her.
However, authorities were not convinced by her statements. She was held in police custody for legal action.