Thai CIB helps FBI freeze assets of largest cybercrime operation
The Central Investigation Bureau has helped the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) track down and freeze a large part of some 1 billion baht worth of assets of the founder and administrator of the world’s largest cybercriminal operation laundered in Thailand.
On Saturday, CIB commissioner Pol Lt-Gen Jirapop Puridej assigned Crime Suppression Division deputy commander Pol Colonel Boonlua Phadungthing to cooperate with Mike Chai, an FBI officer attached to the US embassy in Thailand, to search a house and three condominiums in Pattaya.
They searched for assets bought by Yun He, a Chinese founder and administrator of the notorious 911 S5 cybercrime network to launder money he had allegedly earned from his network.
The FBI sought help from the CIB after learning that Yun He had opened three firms to launder money for the cybercrime network in Thailand.
The FBI believes Yun He has assets worth some 1 billion baht, which he has mostly laundered by buying properties and investing in shares of companies.
The searches on Saturday came after the FBI and Singaporean authorities joined hands to track down and arrest Yun He in Singapore on May 24.
The assets found and seized by CSD police on Saturday included cash in baht and other currencies totalling 7.5 million baht, 13 luxury watches, 23 pieces of accessories worth 50 million baht, a BMW X7 M50d vehicle and some land deed titles and some condo-purchase contracts as well as some bank accounts.
The seized items included bank accounts of Spicy Code company of Yun He and a flash drive, which was believed to have off-line records of some bitcoins his network has allegedly hacked and stolen from others.
911 S5 was a large cybercriminal operation that involved a botnet and a residential proxy service.
A botnet is a network of compromised computers controlled by a single entity. These compromised computers could be used to launch attacks on other computers, steal data, or send spam.
911 S5 reportedly compromised over 19 million devices in 190 countries, making it one of the largest botnets ever discovered. Cybercriminals used this botnet to commit various crimes, including stealing billions of dollars from financial institutions and credit card companies.
The botnet was also used to steal identity, export goods illegally and distribute child exploitation material.
