Russian man arrested for money laundering linked to scam call centre
Police arrested a Russian man for his involvement in a money laundering scheme for a scam call centre gang at a hotel on Koh Samui island in the southern province of Surat Thani.
The arrest, on Sunday, September 3, followed the death of three people at a house in the central province of Samut Prakarn which was reported on August 28. A Thai man attempted to commit suicide after he murdered his wife and two sons but was unsuccessful in ending his own life.
After a thorough investigation of the motive, Bang Kaew Police Station officers discovered that the murder was motivated by the family’s huge debt after the man’s wife was lured into transferring money to a scam call centre gang.
Netizens pressured officers to conduct a further investigation and arrest the scam gang behind the root cause of the tragic incident and many other previous distressing incidents.
Officers managed to arrest five suspects in the gang last week and issued six arrest warrants against another six suspects in the gang. One of them was a 23 year old Russian man called Daniel, who was arrested on Sunday at a hotel in Koh Samui.
Daniel operated a money laundering scheme for the scam call centre gang through the use of cryptocurrency assets. He stayed at the hotel with his older brother. Police have yet to confirm whether the sibling was directly involved in the illicit activities.
According to his actions, Daniel faces a charge of public fraud, forged computer data importation, and technology crime including:
- Section 343 of the Criminal Law: committing public fraud. The penalty will be imprisonment of up to five years, a fine of up to 100,000 baht, or both.
- Section 14(1) of the Computer Act: importing forged data into the computer system in a manner that is likely to cause damage to that third party or the public. The penalty will be imprisonment for up to five years and a fine of up to 100,000 baht.
- Section 9 of the Royal Decree on Technology Crime Suppression: allowing others to use a bank account, electronic card, or electronic account without personal purpose or business. The penalty will be imprisonment of up to three years, a fine of up to 300,000 baht, or both.
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