Police seize 400 million baht in assets from shady group of Chinese businessmen

Bangkok police reportedly seized 400 million baht in assets from a group of Chinese businessmen who are allegedly involved in shady dealings. Thai police say they impounded three luxury homes, a penthouse and 10 luxury cars yesterday. According to Thai PBS World, the assets were seized in Soi La Salle in Bangkok’s Bang Na area, after police discovered they were bought by a Thai company.

The police seized the penthouse unit, which was located in a high-end condominium on Charoen Nakhon Road. The penthouse was worth around 100 million baht, with police saying they found 3 million baht in Thai and Chinese currency inside the unit.

The recent uptick in arrests of Chinese criminals in Thailand could have something to do with Chuwit’s calling on the Ministry of Justice to investigate Chinese gangs laundering money through “grey businesses” in the kingdom.

Just one week ago, a Chinese businessman nicknamed “Tuhao,” who was wanted on drug charges in Thailand, surrendered to police after they raided his mansion in Bangkok. The accused is married to a high-ranking Thai police officer who works for the foreign affairs division.

Yannawa police took Tuhao to Bangkok South Criminal Court and applied to detain him for a further 12 days. The court approved the request and Tuhao was refused bail. His application for release included the offer of a 5 million baht (US$140,000) bond. The highly-connected “rich guy” is deemed a flight risk.

Tuhao denied all the charges pressed against him. In addition to the evidence that police have, they say he donated 3 million baht last year to PM Prayut’s Chan-o-cha’s Palang Pracharath Party.