Southern Thailand call centre scam gang jailed for 20 years

A notorious call centre scam operation has been dismantled by Thai police, leading to severe prison sentences for those involved. The criminal court handed a 20-year prison sentence to 14 members of the gang for deceiving a former doctor in Chumphon province, causing financial losses of 101 million baht. Additionally, those who provided mule accounts to the gang received nine-year prison sentences.

A social media post by the Metropolitan Police’s investigative unit yesterday highlighted the gravity of participating in illegal activities such as opening mule accounts for a mere 2,000 baht. The post pointed out that this small sum equates to being imprisoned for 3,285 days, averaging out to just 0.60 baht per day.

The Criminal Court delivered its verdict on Wednesday, August 21, on the case involving the notorious call centre gang, known for operating under the guise of legitimate business activities. The gang was responsible for defrauding victims of significant sums, including 41 million baht from other victims and 101 million baht from the former doctor.

The court found that Nawakorn Heeakhun and his accomplices were indeed lured into participating in the scam but noted their lack of effort in attempting to escape from the criminal operation. Consequently, the court sentenced each of the 14 defendants to 20 years in prison. The individuals who facilitated the opening of mule accounts, essential for the gang’s fraudulent activities, were also sentenced to nine years in prison.

The call centre gang’s operation was sophisticated, involving multiple layers of deception and the use of mule accounts to launder the stolen money. The gang’s modus operandi included posing as officials, creating a sense of urgency and panic among their victims, and then convincing them to transfer large sums of money to the mule accounts, reported KhaoSod.

In related news, Immigration Bureau officers arrested three Chinese men in Chon Buri for operating a multinational online gambling and call centre scam with over 5.5 billion baht in circulation.