Convicted in Norway - Can I get problems with immigration in Thailand? Please help

[enkiki]

You did a mistake once.  Your next mistake would be skipping your planned court date next month.

 

If you dont attend, the court will issue an arrest warrant for you.  Put a note in the passport database at Interpol.

 

Next time you scan your passport here for anything (thanks to new connection from Thai-Interpol last December) you will be arraigned and detained.

 

After, you will bring your problems here in Thailand and more problems.

 

Get a lawyer to represent you at the court so it follow process *IN* Norway.  During process, there no note, no Interpol, etc.

 

First thing a lawyer will ask the judge next month is postpone date.

 

However, dont stall things.  You have one problem now, not many

[bigginhill]

2 hours ago, Jason M said:

I have not jumped bail and I have not got any sentence, I havent even been i Norway for 4 years... What I know is that I have been called in to court as an offender next month. I will not  be there and I have choosen to not send a lawyer to be there or do any talking whatso ever on my behalf. This will be in total absentia of me, so I dont have any ide if they even can sentence me...? And for all that call me a bad criminal here, that is not what I am - I dont have any sentence and Im not guilty of any crime until proven otherwise. Thanks for the answers so far....

The decision not to attend was your own personal opinion on the best way to handle it, or have you asked advice from a lawyer?

If you haven,t I would reconsider, you could be making the situation worse. You need to know legally what your choices are and their probable outcomes are. 

Also you have 1m of ill gotten gains, see if a lawyer can negotiate with the bank to drop charges if you return the money. 

[thaibreaker]

OP, I am a Norwegian too and have some experience in cases like this, and I am telling you, do not go down this road. That will destroy your life. You will be caught eventually, Thailand will get an arrest warrant for you if you dont show up in court.

 

This is really your only option. Face your crime, do the time. Then you can go on with your life.

 

Trust me, Thailand will ban you for life if they get an arrest warrant on you and arrest you. Sooner or later you will get caught.

 

Are you really willing to let your family go through that? You are gambling with their lives. This will end much worse for all of you if you choose not to show up in court.

 

Do the right thing. Show up, or make sure a lawyer represent you. You might even get a very short sentence.

Edited September 17, 2019 by thaibreaker

[Chongalulu]

10 hours ago, roamer said:

I must confess I am not sure what you are asking here. Norway cannot charge you in absentia for the crime that you state? It can  charge you and convict you In absentia If you have been  bailed and failed to surrender to your bail. If that is the case you are a "bail jumper" which puts a totally different complexion on the case. Norway is nothing if not thorough, you will be the subject of an arrest warrant. Maybe not this year, or even the next but it will catch up with you, how will you renew your passport for example?

 

I will tell you now what you should do. You won't do it, but I will tell you anyway. 

 

Go home.

 

This is Norway we are talking about, Anders Brevik you are not. A slap on the wrist and you come back to Thailand and join the many, many, people who have made mistakes in their life and live here with no problem.

 

There is a huge, massive, difference in practical terms between a person who has served his sentence and someone who is on an arrest warrant. In your present position you risk being arrested and deported and never being allowed here again.

 

You made one mistake, don't compound it.

You May not be giving the best advice here despite best intentions . Thai authorities,like any other do not have access to foreign countries criminal database and his crime is of a low level hardly likely to be subject of an extradition request,nor probably of any embargo on renewing his passport. His only issue arises should he return to Norway when he may be arrested. If he doesn’t intend to go back there my advice would be to keep stum and face any issues IF and when they arrive.

[sotonowl]

2 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

Im not guilty of any crime until proven otherwise.

What makes you think that?

 

The clock is ticking, you won't get away with this, eventually you'll have a tap on the shoulder and be whisked away, and rightly so, guilty by your own admission.

Edited September 17, 2019 by sotonowl

[balo]

Yes time will catch up with you, I returned to Norway myself a couple of times to get out of legal troubles, never missed a "deadline". 
You will be in big trouble soon, maybe not this year but later.

And you stole money from a bank, I hope they catch you. 

 

[SteveK]

Why does anyone need to prove your guilt when you've posted about it on a forum? The ip address from your posts could be demanded by the authorities and you could be tracked down, doubt it would be that hard to find you. Better to get it all sorted ASAP so you don't have to worry about the day when you get detained.

[Old Croc]

16 hours ago, Jason M said:

I forged a income paper (paycheck from a company I didn't work for) and got a consumer loan of approx. 2.5 million thai bath in a Norwegian bank. I did it for approx. 1,5 year ago. I now have approx. 1 million bath left in my Thai wife's bank account,

A little confused as to the exact nature of the offence. People seeking support and advice in such matters rarely give the full story.

 

You took out a loan for the equivalent of 2.5 million baht. To obtain this you falsified employment records to indicate you had the means to repay the loan.  As you seem to be a long term Thai resident (you mentioned marriage extensions), I'm presuming you had no intention of repaying the loan, but wanted it to continue your life here.  Please correct me if this assessment is wrong.

 

So, the charges may be something more than just the forgery, perhaps stealing by deception or similar?

Did you think the bank, or whomever, would write off the loss and it would all just go away? 

Firstly, there is no universal data bank of criminals for every minor offence ever committed.  Interpol act on notices given to them by member states, but the offence would have to be of a high level for them to be involved.

The most likely action would be a warrant by the court issued, and possibly cancellation of your passport with no renewal. (Presuming Norway uses a form of English Common Law)

So face up to it, or move to a shack in a paddy field, in another province. and settle in. 

[reargunnerph3]

If Thai official do find out you've spent time in jail you won't be allowed in. They usually find out so avoid a prison sentence. A friend was Red Flagged by Australian Immigration Officers in Sydney and denied boarding after 7 years retired in Thailand because of a short prison sentence 16 years ago. He doesn't know how they found out but they did. Good luck.

[iamariva1957]

By my thinking what you have done is make your wife a co-conspirator. Good for you? If warrant has been issued for you... then kiss thai Visa goodbye as well as probably all assets from original crime and those obtained from the original funds you... stole.

 

Wishing your wife luck... but wishing you a nice flight home.

[stigar]

2 hours ago, thaibreaker said:

OP, I am a Norwegian too and have some experience in cases like this, and I am telling you, do not go down this road. That will destroy your life. You will be caught eventually, Thailand will get an arrest warrant for you if you dont show up in court.

 

This is really your only option. Face your crime, do the time. Then you can go on with your life.

 

Trust me, Thailand will ban you for life if they get an arrest warrant on you and arrest you. Sooner or later you will get caught.

 

Are you really willing to let your family go through that? You are gambling with their lives. This will end much worse for all of you if you choose not to show up in court.

 

Do the right thing. Show up, or make sure a lawyer represent you. You might even get a very short sentence.

Im also Norwegian.Better meet up on the courtdate and face it.There is a policeoffice here in Bangkok with police from the nordic countries.They will help tracking u with the royal thai police.If u go home and stand up for ur crime im sure the outcome will be better then u think.If u dont go back u can be sure the outcome will be bad for u and ur wife future.I had a centence 19 days many year ago.That is not on my criminal record anymore because they delete it after 3 years.Im sure ur wife will feel much better if u go instead of looking over ur shoulder everyday here in Thailand.

[Tanoshi]

1 hour ago, reargunnerph3 said:

If Thai official do find out you've spent time in jail you won't be allowed in. They usually find out so avoid a prison sentence. A friend was Red Flagged by Australian Immigration Officers in Sydney and denied boarding after 7 years retired in Thailand because of a short prison sentence 16 years ago. He doesn't know how they found out but they did. Good luck.

That's nonsense.

Once you been convicted and done the time, there are no travelling restrictions in place.

Your mate was probably refused boarding and detained due to an infringement of his previous release.

 

Thailand is home now to convicted murderers, rapists and paedophiles after doing there time. 

[Tanoshi]

20 minutes ago, stigar said:

Im also Norwegian.Better meet up on the courtdate and face it.There is a policeoffice here in Bangkok with police from the nordic countries.They will help tracking u with the royal thai police.If u go home and stand up for ur crime im sure the outcome will be better then u think.If u dont go back u can be sure the outcome will be bad for u and ur wife future.I had a centence 19 days many year ago.That is not on my criminal record anymore because they delete it after 3 years.Im sure ur wife will feel much better if u go instead of looking over ur shoulder everyday here in Thailand.

I don't think his wife will be to happy when they come looking for assets to recover the 2.5 million baht.

The OP appears to have invested some of the funds in a business and put the remainder in his wife's name.

[OneMoreFarang]

18 hours ago, Jason M said:

I forged a income paper

You seem to be an honest forger.

Anybody else here would have written he has a friend who forget such a paper.

 

Personally I have no idea if this brings you into trouble in Thailand. I guess it depends a lot on your penalty. If you have to pay a fine and that's it then I guess no problem.

If you get a jail sentence then the situation looks very different.

I have no idea what kind of penalty you can expect.

[olfu]

Its kinda simple--return the loan money and claim its misunderstanding.

Like you bank only care about money.

[SteveK]

53 minutes ago, Tanoshi said:

I don't think his wife will be to happy when they come looking for assets to recover the 2.5 million baht.

The OP appears to have invested some of the funds in a business and put the remainder in his wife's name.

I doubt that would happen - the bank will be insured to the hilt for fraud/forgery type stuff. I wouldn't know if they would chase him around the world only to find fairly illiquid assets in someone else's name, that would cost them a fortune and probably take years to execute, even if it were possible, and even then they won't recover all the money. More than likely they would see him convicted, force him into bankruptcy through the Norwegian courts if he doesn't repay it, and then either write off the money or claim against their insurance. 2.5 million THB might sound like a lot, but in the grand scheme of things, it's buttons to them.

 

Obviously if he ever returns to Norway he would be more or less screwed unless he's got some very nice friends and family. He'll have a criminal conviction, destroyed credit rating and from the sounds of things, he hasn't got much of that money left anyway. Not good.

Edited September 17, 2019 by SteveK

[ylmiri]

14 hours ago, BritTim said:

Only true insofar as Thai Immigration is unaware. Here are two reasons under Section 12 of the Immigration Act where Immigration is supposed to deny entry:

Note that Thai Immigration will generally be unaware of crimes committed outside Thailand, even if they have your fingerprints. The Thai authorities probably can access some information via Interpol, but only a tiny fraction of the committed crimes end up in Interpol's database (typically as a result of international arrest warrants).

Good info you have BritTim. There are robbers or criminals in Thailand who often become friends of the police and these dirty people are walking around town having a good time because these robbers have help policemen who have financial problem.

Foreign countries also welcome them to live there, e.g. Dubai is the home of a famous fugitive of Thailand . And his sister is even made a citizen of Serbia. Isn't it a Wonderful  world? just like Louis Armstrong singing, "I see them bloom for me and you and I said to myself what a wonderful world".

[roamer]

2 hours ago, nchuckle said:

You May not be giving the best advice here despite best intentions . Thai authorities,like any other do not have access to foreign countries criminal database and his crime is of a low level hardly likely to be subject of an extradition request,nor probably of any embargo on renewing his passport. His only issue arises should he return to Norway when he may be arrested. If he doesn’t intend to go back there my advice would be to keep stum and face any issues IF and when they arrive.

Sorry but you're wrong and I will tell you why. Firstly, my ex-partner was a criminal lawyer in Sweden and the systems are broadly similar in many aspects and I have seen quite a few similar cases. I spent a good part of my life liaising with government departments in Nordic countries so I do know some of the background here. This is not a case of Thai authorities having access to criminal databases in foreign countries. You are correct in that this crime is hardly likely to result in an extradition request. What it can result in is the issue of an arrest warrant. Now what you think of as low level simply does not exist in this scenario in a highly automated very bureaucratic government. First step is an airline/passport trawl and more often than not that will result in a possible location. At that point the Norwegian Embassy will be informed and they in turn will liaise with the Thai's. End of Thai holiday. Deported back to where you last embarked for Thailand, that could be Cambodia for example if you have done a visa run. Or more likely, a few days in the detention centre at Swampy will make a flight back to Norway a very attractive proposition.

 

Keeping quiet and facing issues if they arrive was a luxury from another age. These days it is when not if.

[ylmiri]

7 hours ago, Tanoshi said:

Is murder considered a petty offence in Thailand.

Not only do they allow known convicted criminals to enter Thailand, they allow them to start a business and obtain PR status.

Isn't that all depends on the amount both sides agreed on? It's all business as far as I know and getting things done by the right people.

[JohnnyBKK]

This is how it goes, if Norway asks Thailand to find you they will and they will arrest you and deport you (you might even do jail time in Thailand for using stolen funds), your wife will also be arrested and jailed because she used stolen money and bought everything under her name. Seen cases like this in the news, it always goes the same way. Best thing to do for you is to stay in Norway, do the time and be free to do your life.

[Jason M]

3 hours ago, SteveK said:

Why does anyone need to prove your guilt when you've posted about it on a forum? The ip address from your posts could be demanded by the authorities and you could be tracked down, doubt it would be that hard to find you. Better to get it all sorted ASAP so you don't have to worry about the day when you get detained

Since you know what an ip adress is, maby you have heard about an DNS to? Anyway there is nobody looking for me and Im not hiding. I simply asked for advice in my situation

[Suradit69]

18 hours ago, timendres said:

Once you revert back to needing a Visa, then you will be looking at problems.

Or as someone else has said, the next time he needs a new passport from Norway.

[wisperone]

Looks like someone didn't get the "Good Guys In-Bad Gus Out" memo.

I assume your wife is full knowledge of how you obtained the funds... if so she is as guilty as you benefitting from money obtained criminally. Hope you both get what's coming to you. 

[Jason M]

Thank you all for good answers. I will be going to Norway and show up in court. 

So we can close comments on this post now.

Ps. " I didn't do it " 55

 

[Suradit69]

18 hours ago, Inn Between said:

Isn't this the type of thing the new immigration biometrics system is supposed to catch to ensure that these criminals are not getting into or staying in the country?

In the case of many convicted criminals who have not served their sentences or made restitution it seems the country from which they came ought to have prevented them from holding onto their passports or passing through immigrations to travel to Thailand or wherever.

 

How many times have we heard that Thai police have to find and deport these types at the request of UK or US or wherever. How did they manage to leave their countries with no problem.

[ubonjoe]

3 minutes ago, Jason M said:

So we can close comments on this post now.

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