Indian and Thai suspects scam American victims out of over 60 million baht
Police trace fake gold deals and shell firms in Bangkok money laundering scheme
Thai cyber police officers arrested a Thai woman and an Indian man for operating a call centre scam and laundering money, leaving American victims with a loss of over 60 million baht.
The Deputy Commissioner of the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB), Chatchapantakan Klaiklueang, revealed to ThaiRath that officers arrested 41 year old Thai woman, Wandee, in the Isaan province of Roi Et, and 29 year old Indian man, Gurdeep Singh, in Bangkok yesterday, October 14.
Their arrests followed cooperation between the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) office in Bangkok and the Englewood Police Department in the United States, after a group of American victims was scammed by a transnational call centre gang. The victims’ money was found to be transferred to mule accounts in Thailand.
One of the victims was an elderly American man living in Denver, Colorado. On May 6, 2024, he received a fraudulent email claiming to be from PayPal, stating that USD$451.99 (about 15,000 baht) had been charged for a Bitcoin transaction.
On June 10, 2024, he called the number provided in the email to inquire about the charge and was deceived into transferring USD$54,350 (around 2 million baht) from his BMO Bank account in Englewood, USA, to a corporate account in Thailand.
Two days later, on June 12, the fraudsters contacted him again, claiming there were further issues and persuading him to send another USD$5,000. In total, he transferred USD$59,350 (around 2.17 million baht) before realising he had been scammed after noticing the caller’s Asian accent and Texas-based phone number.
Following the international cooperation, Thai CCIB officers conducted two raids yesterday morning. The first, in the Bang Chueak Nang sub-district of Bangkok, led to the arrest of Singh and the seizure of 200,000 baht in cash and four bank books. The second, in Roi Et province, led to the arrest of Wandee.
Police revealed that the gang operated a call centre scam network targeting foreigners and laundering the stolen money in Thailand through fake companies. These shell companies were registered to appear legitimate but had no actual business operations.
Investigators found that the company was registered in early 2024 and became active in June, receiving funds from at least 26 victims, each losing between USD$60,000 and USD$150,000. The total amount laundered through the account exceeded USD$1.7 million, or over 60 million baht.
During questioning, Singh claimed he was running a gold trading business with international clients transferring money to buy gold, which he then shipped abroad.
However, police found sufficient evidence showing Singh was managing the financial transactions for the scam gang. He allegedly withdrew the money and bought gold in Thailand before sending it back to India to sell.
Wandee admitted to her involvement, saying she was hired in June to open a corporate account in her name as managing partner in exchange for 10,000 baht.
The two suspects were charged with operating a transnational criminal organisation, fraud, importing false information into a computer system, opening mule accounts, and money laundering.
Latest Thailand News
Follow The Thaiger on Google News:
