Thai police nab editor of German language newspaper

BANGKOK, November 14 (TNA) - Thai police have arrested the editor of an online German-language newspaper for alleged extorting some 15 million euros, or about 400 million baht, from a popular European food company. The editor of the German language “Thai Fokus” was apprehended on Wednesday by the police from Thailand's Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) at his house in Nong Prue district of Chonburi province in the Thai east, in accordance with an arrest warrant earlier issued by the German authorities for his alleged attempts to extort the money from the European food firm. TCSD Chief Police Major General Pisit Pao-in told a press conference that the 61-year-old Austrian “Thai Fokus” editor, Peter Neunteufel, was found to have sent his emails to the food company based in Germany and other European nations, impersonating himself as a member of an underground Russian gang and threatening the European manufacturer to pay the extorted money; or he would shelf contaminated items with the company's food products and would report the contamination to the media. Major General Pisit said that the German authorities have sought TCSD's cooperation for the arrest, after learning that the suspect has fled to Thailand. The accused has denied the charge, insisting that he was only hired as a translator of Russian documents in Pattaya, but the Thai police are further investigating the case to see whether he has accomplices, while the suspect himself will be extradited to Germany for prosecution. (TNA)