Pattaya, Thailand – On September 3rd, 2025, Pattaya City Police, led by Police Colonel Anek Sarathongyoo, apprehended a Thai woman and a Malaysian man linked to a sophisticated call center scam involving mule bank accounts. The arrests followed a tip-off from Krungthai Bank’s Financial Crime Investigation Team, which flagged suspicious cash withdrawal activities tied to cybercrime.
The operation unfolded at Central Marina shopping mall on Pattaya Second Road, where police, under the command of Police Lieutenant Colonel Arut Sapanont and Police Major Suradet Imjai, alongside officers from the Pattaya Transnational Crime Suppression Unit, conducted a sting. They detained Ms. Kalya (Benz) Chinnarat, 29, and Mr. Kee Edmund, 25, a Malaysian national, as they attempted to withdraw cash from a Krungthai Bank counter.
Investigations revealed that Ms. Kalya, the account holder, tried to withdraw 980,000 baht from her Krungthai Bank account, which had been frozen by the bank. Mr. Kee, who speaks fluent Thai, accompanied her to collect the funds. Police seized three bank passbooks from Ms. Kalya, including accounts with Krungthai Bank, TMBThanachart Bank, and Siam Commercial Bank.
Further questioning uncovered that Ms. Kalya had been in contact with an individual known only as “Thanat” via the Line app, who instructed her to meet Mr. Kee at Big C South Pattaya. The pair then traveled by Bolt taxi to Siam Commercial Bank on Pattaya Second Road, where Ms. Kalya withdrew 430,450 baht, which she handed to Mr. Kee. He then allegedly passed the money to a Chinese national, identified as Mr. Wang Zhiyuan, 23. The group later withdrew an additional 720,740 baht from another Siam Commercial Bank branch near Pattaya Beach Road, again transferring the funds to Mr. Wang. A third attempt to withdraw money from Krungthai Bank failed, leading to their arrest.
Ms. Kalya faces charges including public fraud, allowing others to use her bank accounts for criminal purposes, inputting false or distorted data into computer systems, and involvement in a secret criminal organization (known as “Ang Yee”) and money laundering. Mr. Kee is charged with public fraud, inputting false data, facilitating the use of bank accounts for cybercrimes, and similar charges related to organized crime and money laundering.
Police investigations revealed that Mr. Wang Zhiyuan, the Chinese national implicated in the scheme, has already fled the country. Authorities are continuing their probe to dismantle the broader call center scam network.
