Big Joke ready to extradite Malaysian super-crook ‘Teddy’
Celebrity cop Surachate “Big Joke” Hakparn is ready to extradite a Malaysian businessman, accused of massive frauds in multiple countries, to China.
Big Joke announced Saturday that Teow Wooi Huat is to be deported to China under an extradition request made to Thailand by Chinese authorities. In an interview with Malaysian news source Bernama, Surachate said he expects the extradition to be complete this year.
Police had submitted the request to the Office of the Attorney-General, he added.
“Once it is completed, Teow Wooi Huat will be deported to China, before the end of this year.”
Teow, aka Teddy, was arrested on the Malaysian border at Dan Nok in the Sadao district of Songkhla on July 22. He is reportedly under immigration police custody, but it was unclear whether he is being held in Songkhla or Bangkok.
Teddy is accused of laundering money from online gambling operations. He reportedly ran an entertainment empire based in Da Nok under his MBI Group. He is also the founder of MBI International which operates several questionable businesses in Malaysia.
Big Joke did not reveal the charges that brought the fugitive on to China’s wanted, but the South China Morning Post reported last year that many Chinese nationals rallied outside the Chinese embassy in Kuala Lumpur in 2019, saying they had been cheated of hundreds of millions of ringgit invested in MBI International.
The Penang tycoon is also wanted in Malaysia. Almost 100 bank accounts containing close to US$4 million linked to MBI International were sequestrated in 2017.
It was not immediately clear what charges had been filed against him in Malaysia.
It was also unclear how a known criminal escaped Malaysian authorities and was able to set up in Dan Nok.
Malaysian police have reportedly asked their Thai partners to send him back, but Big Joke reckons Malaysia has not even issued an arrest warrant for him.
