Thai court orders Malaysian allegedly behind scams to be deported to China
A Thai court has issued an order for a wanted Malaysian businessman to be extradited to China to face charges in connection with fraud, Bernama news agency reported on Wednesday.
The court through a virtual hearing on Wednesday said Tedy Teow Wooi Huat, Penang-born founder of the Mobility Beyond Imagination Group (MBI), can appeal against the verdict within 30 days.
Both China and Malaysia have requested his repatriation, after being allegedly linked to a slew of scams.
Teow, wearing a brown prison uniform and a surgical face mask, appeared on camera from the Bangkok Remand Prison, accompanied by prison officers, Bernama reported.
He was calm throughout the hearing and after the judge read the verdict asked, “Can I appeal?”, the news agency said.
Malaysian media has reported that Beijing police wanted Teow for questioning after 400 investors in China filed a suit in a bid to recover investments worth some RM100 million ( 765 million baht, S$31 million).
In 2019, some 100 Chinese nationals allegedly cheated by the MBI’s group online pyramid scheme staged a protest outside the Chinese embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
Last year, Malaysian police smashed a syndicate involved in a Macau scam said to be linked to Teow and his two sons, the media reported.
The group was believed to have set up shell companies to launder ill-gotten gains before using the money to buy high-end properties in Malaysia and Thailand, and invest in cryptocurrencies totalling more than RM336 million ( 2.57 billion baht ), The Star reported.
Teow was arrested in a police raid at MBI’s office in Dannok, Sadao near the Thai-Perlis border on July 22 last year.
The Straits Times
Asia News Network
