Thai police return 1.3 million baht in assets to elderly scam victim
Valuables recovered following arrest of Hong Kong scammer in Bangkok
Police returned assets worth 1.3 million baht to a Thai woman who fell victim to a call centre scam operated by Hong Kong nationals.
Officers arrested one of the suspects, Ming Yin Tang, on October 18, following a complaint from a Thai woman who had lost cash and gold to the foreign scammer. The woman realised she had been deceived when Ming Yin Tang urged her to hide her valuables inside a milk powder can and hand them to him at a hospital in Bangkok.
She reported the incident to the police, who secretly accompanied her to the hospital and arrested him on the spot.
The suspect later led police to a condominium in the Sukhumvit, Bangkok, for further investigation. Officers seized assets worth more than one million baht from the room. Tang reportedly confessed that he and other members of the gang had obtained the assets through call centre scams.
Further investigation revealed that the gang had also deceived another victim, 80 year old Lakkana, who transferred over three million baht to the scammers and handed over gold accessories worth more than 600,000 baht.
Police arrived at her home on October 21 to stop her from sending more money and valuables to the criminals. However, she refused to speak with them and locked herself inside despite repeated calls from officers. Police eventually climbed into her home, finding her still on the phone with a member of the gang.
Lakkana later hung up and told officers that the scammers had threatened to harm her if she spoke to the police or ended the call.
After legal proceedings were completed, officers yesterday, October 27, returned part of the stolen assets to Lakkana. The recovered items, worth a total of more than 1.3 million baht, included:
- A gold bracelet worth 195,000 baht
- A gold amulet worth 65,000 baht
- A gold necklace worth 146,250 baht
- A valuable Buddhist amulet worth 16,250 baht
- A gold necklace with a jade pendant worth 267,500 baht
- Gold necklaces with three valuable amulets worth 260,000 baht
- 50,000 baht in cash
Although the assets represented only part of her total losses, Lakkana expressed deep gratitude to the police for their efforts. She and her family praised the officers for their swift response.
Latest Thailand News
Follow The Thaiger on Google News:
