Chinese men arrested over alleged shopping application scam

Two Chinese men have been arrested for allegedly defrauding more than 1,000 people for more than 2 billion baht by luring them in to make high investments on an online shopping application. Police in both Bangkok and Chiang Mai received complaints from those who had lost money in the alleged scam.

According to the chief of the 191 Patrol and Special Operation Division, Pol Maj Gen Somboon Thiankhao, the two suspects have been found at their condominium in RamIntra district after following complaints and have been identified as 34 year old Chen Yirong and 20 year old Lin Bin.

Four computers, 10 cell phones, and 57 passbooks with ATM and mobile phone SIM cards were seized by police, who also discovered a total of 2 billion baht being transacted, with 1.4 billion baht being transferred to other bank accounts and the rest being invested in cryptocurrencies.

During questioning, the two suspects told police that they came to Thailand to work in the financial services for a monthly pay of 30,000 baht each and reportedly denied that they had misled others.

Now they are being charged with exploiting electronic money and operating without work permits in the kingdom and have been transferred to Khok Kram police, along with all of the things confiscated, as the investigation was expanded to find their collaborators.

After an initial investigation by police, investors would be enticed to show their interest in the scheme before being defrauded of their next payment on the app.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post