Aussie couple busted in Phuket for stealing 2.5 million from Chinese victim

In Phuket, an Australian couple was busted after allegedly stealing 2.5 million baht in a scam on May 31. Gao Jianjia, a 35 year old Chinese national, reported the incident to the Phaholyothin Police on May 29. He had posted online that he was interested in purchasing digital money through Binance, and a suspect contacted him via the Telegram application and agreed to buy for the sum of 2.5 million baht.

The two parties arranged a meeting at a bank in Bangkok’s Lad Phrao district, where Jianjia withdrew 2.5 million baht in cash from his account. He then met with a male foreigner. The foreigner claimed to be a representative, and received the bag of money as confirmed in their online chat. He put the bag of money on a chair near him, The Phuket Express reported.

However, while Jianjia was waiting for the digital money to be transferred into his account, the bag of money vanished. The male foreigner denied any knowledge of its whereabouts before fleeing the scene.

Upon reviewing CCTV footage, police identified a foreign woman taking the bag in the bank. It appears that the foreign couple worked in tandem to steal the bag of money before escaping to Phuket. The Metropolitan Police Bureau informed TPN Media on June 2 that they arrested 28 year old Hinson Lily Jay, and 47 year old Galletly Joseph, both Australian nationals. The couple was apprehended near the Thalang Police Station on May 31.

As of press time, the suspects have not released a plea or statement regarding the allegations and remain in custody.

Stories of scammer couples make headlines from time to time in Thailand.

Last month, Thailand’s Criminal Court sentenced a Thai couple to 12,640 years in prison each after finding them guilty of operating a Ponzi scheme with damages amounting to billions of baht. The couple committed 2,528 acts of fraud between March 9, 2019, and October 30, 2020.