MOSCOW, August 3. /TASS/. Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika have arrived in Thailand on a two-day visit on Wednesday to discuss issue of the transfer of accused persons. The Russian Prosecutor General's Office reported that "the program includes a meeting of the Russian side with Attorney General of the Kingdom of Thailand Pongniwat Yuthapanboripan and his colleagues."
"The meeting participants intend to discuss issues of cooperation in the field of transfer of persons for criminal prosecution, as well as the possibility of further improvement of cooperation in the field of legal assistance in criminal matters and the development of bilateral relations", the Russian Prosecutor General's Office said.
Thailand will also host a seminar devoted to the "role and place of the prosecution authorities of the Russian Federation and the Kingdom of Thailand in the justice system, including in the sphere of ··extradition and mutual legal assistance."
On July 21, it became known that Russian citizen Dmitry Ukrainsky was detained in the resort city of Pattaya in Thailand at the FBI request. The United States accuses him of stealing money from credit cards of US nationals. Thai Tourist Police Commander Pol Maj Gen Surachet Hakphan said previously that the Russian man was arrested in Pattaya where he has been running several firms renting yachts to tourists. He is suspected of stealing $28.5 million sending malware to emails of the theft victims and the malware sent back usernames and passwords of online bank accounts in the United States, Australia, Japan, Britain, Italy and Germany.
After the detention of the Russian citizen, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office and Foreign Ministry contacted the Thai competent authorities to protect his rights and freedoms and to prevent his unjustified extradition to the American side.
Last week, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Moscow was pressing Thai authorities to block the Russian national’s extradition to the US at the request of the FBI. According to the diplomat, the US "makes no secret that it will continue the practice of extrajudicial and illegal abductions of other countries’ nationals from third countries," he said, also referring to a recent incident "with rather famous individuals from Venezuela". "So such an attitude by American law enforcement is not just a Russian problem," he said. "Thailand knows that such action is categorically inadmissible. We expect to see a very serious approach to our appeals from the relevant agencies in Bangkok," the top diplomat said.
Thailand’s newspaper, The Nation previously reported that the Thai police had arrested a Russian national Dmitry Ukrainsky, 44, and an Uzbekistani citizen, Olga Komova, 25, who were suspected of stealing $28.5 million from individual bank accounts in several countries. The FBI traced the transactions and found that they were wired to Thailand. Consequently, the FBI sought help from the Thai Immigration Bureau to arrest the two suspects, according to the newspaper.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova said on July 21 that Moscow had filed a note of protest with the Thai foreign ministry, stating that the extradition of a Russian citizen to the United States was unacceptable. Diplomats were taking all reasonable steps to secure his release or transfer to the Russian authorities, she said.