Chinese fraud suspect caught after trying to hide with sacred tattoo
A Chinese man was arrested yesterday, March 18, at a ritual site in Khon Kaen, where he attempted to get a sacred tattoo, hoping it would help him hide from the arrest.
Officers from Immigration Division 4 were alerted by Chinese officials about a Chinese suspect wanted for fraud. The suspect, later identified only as Shang, was accused of running an investment scam that swindled victims of more than 500 million baht.
Chinese authorities reported that Shang fled to Thailand to avoid arrest, prompting Thai immigration police to begin searching for him.
Police said they later located Shang in Khon Kaen and learned he planned to visit a ritual space in a deep forest along the Shi River on the border of Khon Kaen and Maha Sarakham provinces to get a sacred tattoo.
Officers followed him into the ritual area and found him at the location waiting for the tattoo. Police said he admitted he was the person named on the arrest warrant and told officers he had sought the tattoo in the belief it would help him evade arrest. Further checks found Shang had overstayed his visa by 331 days, or nearly a year.
He was taken to Mueang Khon Kaen Police Station for legal proceedings related to the overstay before being deported to China to face proceedings over the fraud.
Immigration Division 4 commander Pairat Pookcharoen said officers would continue tracking wanted foreign suspects in Thailand under the Royal Thai Police policy titled Turn Back Crimes.
In other recent arrests of Chinese nationals who hid from arrests in Thailand, one suspect wanted under an Interpol Red Notice was arrested in January. He was reportedly linked to a call centre scam operation and the murder of a South Korean student who was tricked into working for a scam gang.
In December last year, another Chinese national was arrested while hiding in Phuket. He was reported to have fled responsibility after a fatal flood at a gold mine in China.
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