Police nab suspect in fake loan scam
Police with the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) swept into action to prevent an online scamming suspect from fleeing the country at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Tuesday.
Chinese national Yuan Jian was linked to a gang with some 50 members that allegedly scammed more than 400 people via online loan service websites, Pol Lt Gen Amnat Tripoj, deputy chief of CCIB, said in a press conference on Wednesday.
He said the crackdown started in late April when the police tracked down 52 persons related to the websites that promised large loans at low interest rates via online advertising and SMS messages.
“After the victims accepted the loan, they were asked to transfer a fee as well as an advance installment payment to the suspects’ accounts, but no one ever received the actual loans afterward,” Amnat said.
The CCIB has so far detained 37 suspects, most of whom are Chinese nationals. The investigation into the money trail led to the arrest of Yuan Jian on Tuesday, and a search of three condominium units in Bangkok allegedly linked to gang members.
Amnat said the CCIB is working with the Anti-Money Laundering Office to confiscate assets found in the condos valued at over 100 million baht. They include laptop computers, luxury watches, brand-name products, and bank passbooks showing deposits of 2 million baht.
Police believe that Yuan Jian’s husband, Hou Jinsuo, also a Chinese national, has fled to Singapore along with four other suspects.
Yuan Jian reportedly confessed that after they received money from the victims, she and her husband were tasked with converting it into digital coins and selling them at low prices to attract buyers.
