Sixth Malaysian nabbed in Thai 'Macau scam'

BANGKOK: A 19-year-old Malaysian man became the latest suspect arrested by Thai police in their investigations into a ‘Macau Scam’ syndicate headed by a Taiwanese gangster.

“The 19 year-old from Malacca admitted it was he who rented the condominium for 87,000 Baht per month (about RM10,800), but denied all other allegations (of involvement with the Macau Scam syndicate or beatings suffered by the woman),” a Thai police source involved with the investigation told Bernama.

The arrest followed Friday night’s raid on a condominium where Thai police rescued a Malaysian woman and arrested five of her compatriots, as well as a 29-year-old Taiwanese man suspected to be the ringleader.

According to the source, the Malaysian man who has a Thai mother and could converse in the Thai language was arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport upon his arrival from Malaysia.

In the raid on the condominium located in Bangna area in the outskirts of Bangkok, Thai police rescued the Malaysian woman who suffered several injuries on her arms and legs due to constant beatings she received from a syndicate member.

The raid followed information relayed by the Malaysian embassy here.

Police said the rescued Malaysian woman was beaten with an iron rod,  as a form of punishment for refusing to follow the syndicate’s instructions.

The Taiwanese man, according to the police source, admitted to beating the Malaysian woman, but denied the allegation that he operated a Macau Scam in the condominium. He is also refusing to cooperate with the investigation.

The source said the injured woman who was kept in the condominium against her will had been taken to a nearby hospital. Her condition has improved.

He said the initial investigation found that the five other Malaysian suspects arrested in the raid had been travelling to Thailand several times before this.

“The police want to know how long has the syndicate been operating in Thailand,” said the source, adding that as of now, the five Malaysians would be the key witnesses in their investigation on the Macau Scam syndicate.

The term "Macau scam" was coined because it is believed that such scams originated from Macau or that the first victims came from there, but this has never been confirmed.

Macau scams usually start with a phone call from a scammer pretending to be an officer from a bank, government agency or debt collector.

The scammer will then claim that the potential victim owes money or has an unpaid fine, often with a very short window of less than an hour, to settle the payment or face "dire consequences".