Chinese man arrested at Thailand-Cambodia border with fake passport
Immigration Bureau officers today arrested a Chinese man at a border checkpoint in the Isaan province of Sa Kaeo for entering the country with a fake passport.
As part of measures to tackle call centre scam operations, Thai officials implemented stricter inspections at border checkpoints nationwide. Officers at the Ban Khlong Luek Border Checkpoint followed these directives and managed to arrest the Chinese man in possession of a counterfeit passport today, March 5.
According to a report on Channel 7, officials inspected the passport of the Chinese man, later identified as 39 year old Wang Murong, and discovered that he travelled from China to Cambodia before entering Thailand.
Murong departed from China but his passport was issued in Taiwan. This discrepancy raised officials’ suspicions, prompting further investigation, which confirmed their doubts.
Murong eventually confessed that he wished to enter Thailand and contacted a Chinese national in Cambodia to obtain a fake passport. However, he refused to disclose how much he had paid for the counterfeit document.
Officers suspected that Murong was a member of a call centre scam gang in Cambodia attempting to evade a crackdown by Cambodian authorities. Further questioning regarding his intentions and use of a fake passport is set to be conducted.
Scam loss drops
Murong was initially charged under Section 296/9 of the Criminal Law: possessing or using a counterfeit passport. The penalty for this offence is imprisonment of one to ten years and a fine ranging from 20,000 to 200,000 baht.
The Thai government has taken the issue of call centre scam gangs more seriously this year, beginning with cutting off electricity, Internet, and petrol supplies in February. Further crackdowns have been carried out in Thailand, alongside increased cooperation with neighbouring countries.
The Deputy Prime Minister (PM) and Minister of Digital Economy and Society (DES), Prasert Jantararuangtong, shared updates on the government’s successful operations against call centre scam gangs with the media yesterday.
Prasert stated that Thailand had suspended 92,321 mule accounts between January 1 and February 28 and arrested 587 mule account owners between December last year and January this year.
The deputy PM also highlighted the significant decrease in fraudulent transactions following stricter measures.
“I noted that scam gangs previously swindled over 100 million baht daily. However, after the power cuts, daily losses dropped to less than 50 million baht.”
Prasert also issued a warning to mule account owners who remain at large.
“The DES would like to warn anyone who has sold their bank account to a call centre scam to be aware of the penalties, which include a maximum prison sentence of three years.
“If you have been tricked into opening mule accounts for a scam gang, please contact your bank to close the account as soon as possible.”
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