Russian man arrested in Pattaya for illegal trade linked to a suicide

Economic Crime Suppression Division (ECD) officers arrested a Russian man at a luxury penthouse in Pattaya yesterday for allegedly running an illegal trade, which led to the suicide of a Thai woman.

ECD officers arrested the 40 year old Russian man, Alexey Vegman, at his penthouse yesterday, April 4 on an accusation of illegally trading. Vegman reportedly denied all allegations and is now being questioned at the ECD office.

Officers conducted raids at his penthouse and two other houses in the area and seized several items of evidence related to the crime including, seven laptops, three mobile phones, six electronic cards, 14 bank accounts, four cheque books, and nine secure pass devices.

These secure pass devices are used to generate one-time passwords (OTPs) to access online financial transaction systems.

Vegman’s arrest follows a complaint filed by relatives of a Thai woman named Nawaporn. According to police reports, Nawaporn committed suicide after investing in Forex trading through an agent.

Nawaporn then encouraged others to invest with her and managed to gather an investment of over 20 million baht. Unfortunately, Nawaporn lost all the money and was unable to repay the other investors, which led to her suicide.

The agent Nawaporn invested with was an illegal trader and Vegman was allegedly involved in its operation. The Russian man did not operate alone and police are conducting further investigations to apprehend the remaining suspects.

Police reported that this illegal agent operated for about three years and had funds of over 100 billion baht circulating within his business.

In a related incident, three Russian men and a Thai woman were arrested for illegally operating a restaurant in Phuket. One of the Russian men hired a Thai woman as a nominee to gain the restaurant operating permit. Another Russian man was a shareholder, while the remaining Russian national worked as a finance manager.

Another Russian woman is wanted by Thai police for conspiring with two Thai women to operate fake companies to illegally assist foreigners with their visas, work permits, and business permits. The Russian woman is also suspected of involvement in money laundering activities.