Thai police probe 1,483 suspected fake birth registrations linked to eight hospitals

Police and the Department of Provincial Administration’s DOPA N.I.C.E. task force have identified 1,483 suspected fraudulent birth registrations linked to eight hospitals as they expand an investigation into a network that allegedly used Thai men as “fake fathers” to obtain Thai citizenship for foreign children. The investigation began after police arrested a Chinese national accused of helping launder more than 70 billion baht for a scam network. Investigators found that his three children had obtained Thai nationality despite both biological parents being Chinese, leading police to uncover a scheme in which Thai men were allegedly paid to falsely acknowledge paternity so foreign children could obtain Thai birth certificates, household registrations, ID cards and citizenship. The latest operation targeted a private hospital in Bangkok’s Rama IX area, where authorities arrested four suspects—two Thai men accused of posing as fathers and a Chinese couple alleged to have arranged the fraudulent registrations. Officers also searched a house in Huai Khwang and a district office. Police said DNA tests, medical records and birth registration documents confirmed the fraud. At the first hospital investigated, authorities found 62 suspected cases, with 19 confirmed and 43 still under investigation. At the hospital raided on Friday, investigators found three suspected cases, confirming fraud in two, while one remains under investigation. Since July 9, police have arrested 37 suspects in the investigation, including 16 fake Thai fathers, 13 Chinese mothers, six Chinese fathers, one government official and one hospital employee. The suspects face charges including making false statements to officials, using false government documents and civil registration fraud to unlawfully obtain Thai nationality. Authorities said the Thai nationality of children confirmed to have obtained it fraudulently has already been revoked, and the investigation is being expanded to identify others involved in the network. The police findings come a day after a House committee said a review of Bangkok’s civil registration records found 32 confirmed sham-father cases, 45 high-risk cases and 556 additional suspicious cases, and called for a nationwide review of birth registrations over the past 15 years. The post Police probe 1,483 suspected fake birth registrations linked to eight hospitals appeared first on Thai Enquirer.