National—
On November 29th, 2023, Thai technology crime suppression (TCS) officers held a press conference on a raid operation that they called “ Shutdown One Billion Hybrid Scam” on an alleged transnational criminal organization in 5 locations in Bangkok and Samut Prakan.
During the first operation, four suspects were publicly identified as Mr. Ruan Hong Lin, a Chinese national, Ms. Zhao Ye, a Chinese national, Ms. Lawan Thaweeraphiradeepoon, a Thai national and Ms. Savitri Angkhabut, a Thai national.
They were arrested according to a Thai criminal court warrant for allegedly collaborating in corruption by importing false information into a computer system, allegedly collaborating in participating in transnational criminal organizations, and other related charges.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Jiraphop Phuridej, the Commander of the Central Investigation Police, publicly revealed that TCS officers had previously captured involved individuals who had disguised themselves as good-looking girls to allegedly scam people into misleading and fraudulent cryptocurrency investments.
The Central Investigation Police conducted further investigation and discovered that the group allegedly worked in a large network as a criminal organization before launching a raid operation and capturing 9 individuals both Thai and Chinese nationals. It was reported that the police confiscated more than 1 billion baht of assets.
Pol. Maj. Gen. Atip Phongsiwapai, the commander of the Technology Crime Suppression Division, stated to Thai national media that after the first operation, the police tracked down money transactions and found out that the group had bought real estate and luxury entertainment venues worth 200 million baht with funds gained from allegedly fraudulent activities. The names of the venues were not released to the Thai press.
According to a report by TCS officers, the police were able to arrest more individuals involved in the alleged scamming network, one of them was reportedly a famous Thai model.
The name of the model, however, was also withheld at this time by the TCS.
Initially, the suspects denied the accusations and claimed their innocence before being escorted to the police station for further legal processing, said Pol. Maj. Gen. Atip.
