Thai immigration police arrest int'l criminal

BANGKOK, January 7 (TNA) - Thai immigration police have arrested one of top ten suspected criminals whom the United States wants for hacking into databases of commercial banks in the United States and several other countries worldwide. Thai Immigration Police Commissioner Police Lieutenant General Phanu Kerdlarppol told a press conference on Monday that 24-year-old Algerian Hamza Bendelladj was apprehended upon his arrival at Thailand's main Suvarnabhumi International Airport on Sunday, after he departed from Malaysia and was about to board another flight to Egypt. Police Lieutenant General Phanu said the Thai immigration force has also seized the suspected criminal notebook computer, hard disk drive and mobile phone. The Thai immigration police chief acknowledged that Bendelladj is one of the top 10 suspects whom the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) wants for stealing information from commercial banks in the United States and several other countries worldwide, and that the Algerian suspect has hacked into the databases of commercial banks, stolen clients’ information since 2008, causing damage worth millions of US dollars. According to the Thai immigration police chief, the suspect denied he was part of any organized criminal network or gang. (TNA)