Chinese wanted for kidnap-torture in Cambodia nabbed in Thailand

The Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB)’s investigation into an investment scam in Chonburi province has led police to the hideout of a Chinese man wanted by Interpol over the abduction and torture of a Chinese woman in Cambodia.

CCIB chief Pol Lt-Gen Trirong Phiewphan told a press conference on Thursday that the suspect was found hiding at a pool villa owned by a 27-year-old Chinese woman in Chonburi’s Bang Lamung district. Both were arrested.

Trirong said the man is linked with an online digital currency investment scam that cheated victims out of around 618 million baht.

He reportedly admitted to illegally crossing the border from Cambodia to Thailand.

Investigators contacted the Chinese Embassy and discovered that the suspect is wanted by China and listed on an Interpol Red Notice.

Trirong said the man is the key suspect in the abduction of a Chinese woman from Sihanoukville, Cambodia. The woman’s family alerted the authorities after receiving a ransom letter with photographs of the victim, lying naked in a box. The letter demanded a ransom of 1 million yuan (4.67 million baht).

The whereabouts of the woman, who showed signs of being tortured, remain unknown.

The suspect also has links with an international crime organisation and a money laundering gang, said Trirong, adding that the CCIB is coordinating with Chinese authorities for his extradition to China.