Nine people have been arrested and assets valued over a billion baht were confiscated, in another major crackdown on online scam operations. The raids took place at around 6am yesterday, August 30.
The Bangkok Post reports that around 200 officers, including members of the Central Investigation Bureau and Anti-Money Laundering Office, raided 30 locations in Bangkok, Samut Prakan and Udon Thani. The locations included homes and businesses linked to Thai and foreign nationals suspected of running online scam operations.
Police confiscated assets valued up to 1 billion baht, including properties and luxury cars. These include 16 houses on Krungthep Kreetha Road, carrying a 50 million baht price tag. A raid was also carried out on a law firm owned by a Chinese national through a Thai proxy. The law firm is accused of laundering money for illegal businesses.
PHOTO: Daily News
The 9 people arrested are accused of running romance and investment scams and money laundering. They include a Thai model and a number of Chinese and Burmese nationals.
The commander of the Technology Crime Suppression Division, Athip Pongsiwapai, says the raids were the result of a complaint from a Thai woman, conned by a romance scam into investing in fraudulent cryptocurrency.
So far, investigators have uncovered numerous transactions converting digital currency into Thai baht. The money was then used to purchase luxury properties and vehicles in Bangkok and the surrounding provinces.
According to Athip, around 1 billion baht in cash and cryptocurrency was circulating through the accounts.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
