Thai National Arrested for Laundering Money for Call Centre Scams

A Thai man was arrested for laundering money for 70 call centre gangs, admitting to operating under a Chinese scam boss. He faces charges of transnational crime and public fraud. His role included managing mule accounts and converting cash to cryptocurrency.

On Monday, the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) reported the arrest of a Thai man in Chiang Rai, who admitted to laundering money for over 70 call centre gangs. After fleeing to escape the Thai government’s crackdown on such operations in February, the individual was apprehended at his residence in the Mae Fah Luang district.

The suspect faces multiple charges, including involvement in transnational crime, public fraud, and entering false information into a computer system. He disclosed to authorities that he worked for a Chinese-operated scam office in Poipet from November 11, 2023, to February 13, 2025, which generated significant profits from call centre scams totaling approximately 30 million baht.

To facilitate the laundering process, the operation employed twenty Thai mule accounts to handle daily transactions, with the Chinese gang boss compensating 8,000-12,000 baht for each account. The suspect’s duties included translating for the Chinese leaders, managing bank applications for mule accounts, and converting cash into Tether USDT cryptocurrency through various platforms. The final step involved transferring the USDT to the gang boss’s wallet for distribution among the call centre gangs, proportional to their earnings.

The arrest of the Thai individual highlights a significant example of the efforts made by Thai authorities to dismantle call centre scams and their corresponding money laundering operations. The involvement of multiple accounts and the systematic approach to transferring digital currency underscore the complexity of such criminal enterprises. Continued law enforcement actions are essential to combat the financial networks supporting these scams.

Original Source: www.nationthailand.com