Police have arrested 13 scam suspects and seized victim contact lists and swindle scripts at a house in Bang Phli district in Samut Prakan, and also caught a fugitive Korean fraudster hiding in Prachuap Khiri Khan.
Pol Lt Gen Natthasak Chaowanasai, commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau, told reporters on Tuesday that 12 Koreans and their Chinese boss were taken into custofy from a house in Samut Prakan on Sept 1.
Police also impounded 51 VoIP (voice over internet protocol) devices, 20 mobile phones, internet signal repeaters and 20 computers found in their possession, along with Korean-language scam sheets, forged Korean-language official documents and lists with the names and phone numbers of more than 1,000 South Korean nationals.
According to Pol Lt Gen Natthasak, the suspects phoned potential victims over the internet, claimed to be South Korean public prosecutors, accused them of involvement in criminal offences and told victims to transfer money to them for verification of the source.
The gang was supervised by the Chinese suspect and operated from 7am to 2pm on weekdays, imitating the office hours of South Korean officials. They sneaked into Thailand six months ago and moved every two months to avoid detection. All their victims were South Koreans.
‘Police believe there are many victims. This is the third arrest of South Korean scam gangs in Thailand. Police have arrested 41 suspects in total and they have caused damage amounting to tens of thousands of millions of won,’ Pol Lt Gen Natthasak said.
– Fugitive Korean fraudster arrested –
Police also apprehended a 67-year-old South Korean man, Ahn Hoon, at a house in Hua Hin district, Prachuap Khiri Khan, on Monday.
Pol Maj Gen Pattanasak Buphasawan, commander of the Crime Suppression Division, said the man was a fugitive, wanted in South Korea on charges of investment fraud totalling 1.05 billion baht through 14 scams.
Since moving to Thailand, the suspect had also allegedly tricked three South Korean victims into investing in bogus property projects in Chon Buri, Phetchaburi and Prachuap Khiri Khan. Reported damage here totalled about 147 million baht.
Maj Gen Pattanasak said the suspect sneaked into Thailand from Malaysia about three decades ago and had a Thai wife. He was being held in police custody pending legal procedures.