Crime

Wesley Halbach remains in Thai jail for alleged involvement in SPM scam, chasing donations – UPDATE

Published

4 weeks ago

Monday, March 22, 2021

Thaiger

Photo via GoFundMe

The Thaiger has been asked to remove the photo we posted from the GoFundMe page raising funds for Dutch citizen Wesley Halbach.

He is currently waiting in a Thai jail for charges related to the money-making pyramid scheme SPM Shopping Mall said to have scammed thousands. A GoFundMe page has been set up, requesting donations to help pay bail, hire a lawyer and reunite Wesley with his family overseas. The page claims that the 37 year old father is the “…victim of a big set up”.

Mr. Halbach’s lawyer, Dr. Pornthip Chartdee Ph.D from Nongprue, Banglamung, in Chon Buri, sent The Thaiger an email asking us to remove the photo. We have replaced the photo with a blurred version. If you wish to see the original you can go to Mr Wesley’s GoFundMe page HERE. 2 people, who were involved in the SPM Shopping Mall scam, have provided The Thaiger with screen shots of conversations they had with Mr. Halbach.

Police claim Wesley was an ‘administrator’ for the scheme’s Line messaging chats and that there are around 40 other suspected “Line Admin.” A recent Facebook post by the mother of Mr. Halbach’s daughter, with a link to the GoFundMe, claims Wesley is “…one of the kindest people who I know”.

The Thaiger has covered the larger story about the SPM Shopping Mall scam….

Wesley was arrested last month at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. Police claim Wesley, along with his partner and child, were about to flee to the Netherlands. Police allege that around 100 million baht had already been transferred to banks in a neighbouring country.

Police suspect over 10,000 people fell victim to the SPM Shopping Mall scam. People were paid to “click” on products, giving it a positive rating to boost the SEO rankings. The more money invested, the more they could “click” and potentially more money back.

Wesley is accused of monitoring the SPM Shopping Mall website and Line app as well as inviting people to join the scheme. The people invited to join the scheme by ‘Admins’ can then go on to invite other into the scheme – a classic pyramid scheme. Several Phuket residents filed complaints with police, accusing Wesley of tricking them into making an investment. He was arrested on charges of defrauding others and conducting an online scam. The ‘Admins’ were being paid up to 500 baht per day to work the system by the people operating the website. They, in turn, were able to earn a percentage of the monies paid into the scheme by the people ‘downline’.

The GoFundMe, set up by the mother of Wesley’s 2 year old daughter, says they’ve used all their savings to help “fight for his justice.” So far, more than 1,195 euros have been raised to help Mr. Halbach pay for lawyer costs and bail. The page is hoping to raise 9,000 euros.

This fundraising is for Wesley who I share custody of my almost 2 years old girl.
I know Wesley for over 5 years and he is one of the kindest people who I know.

Wesley is at the moment stuck in Thailand and waiting for his court.
He is accused in court of acts which he has not done. He is a victim of a big set up.
He was very naive to trust wrong people and now we are living a nightmare.

Funds will be used for lawyer costs and bail.

If you have ever spent any time inside a Thai prison, you will know how difficult life can be on the inside. There is constant overcrowding, disease, lack of clean food and water, immense heat, lack of access to people outside the prison, occasional violence and death, and other challenges.

Click HERE for the GoFundMe page if you feel inclined to support this Dutch citizen.

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19 Comments

murika

Thursday, March 18, 2021 at 11:56 am

the guy try to leave with 100 millions but he is a victim, do you expect people to be that naive ? He deserve to rot in jail for the thouthan of thai and farang who get robbed their economies

Reply
Kim

Thursday, March 18, 2021 at 12:44 pm

Yes, of course he is innocent, although the whole family tried to flee and accidentally transferred 100m baht to overseas bank accounts.. give me a farkin break. And now they are scamming people again with a gfm page.

Reply
Issan John

Thursday, March 18, 2021 at 12:46 pm

Some people will donate to any scumbag under the sun just because they’re “one of our own”.

Not wanting to pre-judge (much 😡) but …

Reply
Slocum

Thursday, March 18, 2021 at 1:27 pm

100% Agreed with Mr.Murika….Dirt or Scumbag deserved no sympathy…..Two ways of learning in life..”Easy or Hard way”….Have a though…about the poor and innocent victims.

Reply
LV

Thursday, March 18, 2021 at 2:38 pm

It was all just a big misunderstanding. If you simply add more money to your SPM account you can continue clicking, withdraw your money and get poor Wesley out of jail.

Reply
Slugger

Thursday, March 18, 2021 at 3:06 pm

Whatever Murika said. There was some English in there somewhere. Let the Dutchman fight his own battles.

Reply
toby andrews

Thursday, March 18, 2021 at 3:24 pm

If his family have a 100 millions in funds in other countries, can they not use those funds, or have they been seized?

Reply
lou

Thursday, March 18, 2021 at 6:07 pm

whatever naiv then he must give all his contacts to the police , surely a deep organisation since the web site only was very technical, I believe only high knowledgeable webmaster can set such a thing “+ numerous names have opened accounts to get the funds with the help of the banks which should be investigated as accomplices as well

Reply
lou

Thursday, March 18, 2021 at 6:18 pm

he is surely naive and partially responsible, but must be a big mafia heind not in jail, to create such a deeb site need a super webmaster, then whatabout the numerous people whom could open accounts in various banks to get the money from the crooked people ? what about the details about the investigations over the banks staffs and namnagers surely accomplices ?

Reply
James Pate

Friday, March 19, 2021 at 12:55 am

Inviting others to join indicates he was not just a webmaster. We’ll see.

Reply
Ian

Friday, March 19, 2021 at 3:20 am

Hes scum and been caught and hes not english so lock him up lol

Reply
Ben

Friday, March 19, 2021 at 6:30 am

This guy is a scam artist. So what if he has 100 million in the bank. He sees an opportunity to scam more money from his Dutch countryman so why not add some more funds to his pile?

The 100 million could be in a Swiss bank account which would make it hard to reach. Or he may not want to acknowledge the 100 million because he’d have to explain where he got it from and it would cement his guilt. Toby, stop playing stupid.

If proven guilty he’s going to rot in a Thai jail. By comparison a 14 day quarantine in a nice Bangkok hotel is a walk in the park.

Reply
Ian

Friday, March 19, 2021 at 7:00 am

I would rather shave my bollocks with a broken bottle than help you. Scumbag, that naivety card only works in your teens, go to f*cking jail!!

Reply
Anonymous

Friday, March 19, 2021 at 3:43 pm

He should be life imprisoned. We don’t need second thought to throw away such a scumbag from our society.

Reply
Frank

Friday, March 19, 2021 at 4:19 pm

Let him rot away

Reply
Cappu

Saturday, March 20, 2021 at 11:24 am

There’s a Dutch saying “waar rook is is vuur”, where there’s smoke there’s fire. We all have our own shit, deal with the consequences.

Reply
Gosport

Monday, March 22, 2021 at 5:46 pm

Great, lock him up, free up the child.

Reply
John_2

Monday, March 22, 2021 at 6:54 pm

Probably he was a minor player and fall guy – the big guys will have gone already along with all the money.

Reply
Tony

Monday, March 22, 2021 at 9:21 pm

You do the crime ,you do the time when your cought that’s life and get to know it,

Reply

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Immigration police arrest Frenchman on drug charges, 3 other foreigners for overstay

Published

1 week ago

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Immigration police arrested a French man who was allegedly involved in a crime network who allegedly smuggled cannabis, and arrested 3 other foreigners on overstay charges. Police say the crime network sold cannabis to foreigners living in tourist cities in Thailand.

Officers say they suspect there are more people involved in the alleged smuggling operation on the Eastern seaboard, which includes Chon Buri and Rayong. Police are now launching an investigation.

Police were tipped off earlier this year about an alleged French gang selling cannabis to tourists. Apparently, the drug suspects would rent rooms to store the cannabis and frequently change locations. Foreigners had rented a room off a soi in Bangkok, but the manager noticed they were acting suspicious. No one appeared to actually be living in the room and people would stop by the room for less than an hour, the manager told police.

Police arrested a man who was stopping by the room. Officers say the 28 year old, identified as Samy, had a suitcase filled with dried cannabis and scales. He faces charges for possession and distribution of a Category 5 narcotic.

The police went to the man’s apartment in the Charoen Nakhon area and arrested 2 French nationals, ages 27 and 28, and a 29 year old woman from the UK for overstaying their visas. Police say they had thrown cannabis and smoking equipment out the window before officers entered the room.

SOURCE: Thai Visa

Crime

Thailand hoping to be upgraded to a Tier 1 nation in anti-human trafficking efforts

Published

1 week ago

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

Ann Carter

Thailand hoping to be upgraded to a Tier 1 nation in anti-human trafficking efforts | Thaiger

Stock photo via Flickr

Thailand is hoping its newest anti-human trafficking report will earn an upgrade from the US from Tier 2 to Tier 1. The report was submitted to the Washington’s Trafficking in Persons Report. Deputy government spokeswoman, Rachada Dhnadirek, said the government is ready to be upgraded after remaining on Tier 2 for 3 years in a row. Those nations who fall on the Tier 2, are deemed to not be fully complying with the minimum standards set out in the US’ Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Those on the Tier 2, however, are supposed to be making efforts to comply with the minimum standards.

Before 2018, Thailand was placed in Tier 3, which is for nations who don’t fully comply with the minimum standards and are not making efforts to do so. Then, Thailand was upgraded to Tier 2 after making progress compared to the previous year.

Rachada says Thailand submitted the 2020 TIP Report on February 2 and a report on progress in its anti-human trafficking operations from January to March of this year to the US embassy on April 3. The data includes the number of arrests and punishments for human-trafficking offences. Thailand also has created a new plan, making it the first in Asia to introduce such a plan. That plan is called the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights.

Rachada says now Thailand is processing human trafficking cases more quickly by shortening the investigation time to 70 days as of last year. In 2015, the investigation time was 118 days. She says the country has also set up centres to help LGBT human-trafficking victims as well as helping migrant workers with work-related issues.

Thailand has also introduced the PROTECT-U app for smartphones in which human-trafficking victims can access protection and launch complaints in 7 different languages. The app was developed by the Social Development and Human Security Ministry.

SOURCE: The Phuket News

Crime

Phuket man shot by off-duty police officer now paralysed

Published

1 week ago

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

Ann Carter

Phuket man shot by off-duty police officer now paralysed | Thaiger

Phuket Police Station / Google Maps

A 25 year old Phuket man who was allegedly beaten and shot by an off-duty, drunken police officer, will never walk again as he remains paralysed in the hospital. The news, according to doctors at Vachira Phuket Hospital, comes after Aroon Thongplab, was shot from a close range, with the bullet hitting his spine.

The man was a noodle vendor and was collecting a bowl from a customer on Bangla Road when he was allegedly shot by Pornthep Channarong of the Phuket Provincial Police at around 6am. Doctors told his wife about his prognosis after he woke up from a coma and underwent surgery to increase his prospects of being able to sit up. His wife, who is only known by her surname as Kulthida, told The Phuket News that she received news that he would never walk again.

“He cannot feel or move the lower part from his waist. Doctors just gave him spine surgery last week, so that he can sit. However, the doctors cannot assure that the surgery will work. We have to wait to see if his recovery goes well along with physiotherapy.”

Pornthep was discharged from the Royal Thai Police less than a day after he allegedly shot the noodle vendor. Now, he is facing charges of attempted murder, firing a weapon in a public area, and carrying a firearm in a public area without a necessary reason. But those charges have come slowly, according to Kulthida.

“I have already asked Patong Police, and they told me that at this stage the report to file (with the public prosecutor) is about 90% complete. I am also waiting for a notice from the court. Today, officers from Region 8 Police came to the hospital to question Aroon, but he has not been able to speak… I asked them about the bail conditions, and they told me that the suspect is still in jail.”

The Phuket Provincial Court is allowing Pornthep to go out on bail, despite the Royal Thai Police asking the court to keep in locked up.

SOURCE: The Phuket News