BANGKOK (The Nation/Asia News Network): Police say a Chinese couple arrested at a luxury house in Bangkok's Prawet district on Tuesday (May 30) is behind a hybrid scam that may have netted more than 10 billion baht (US$288 million) from Thais and foreigners.
Police confiscated more than 1.5 million baht in cash at the address, plus land title deeds worth over 180 million baht, 14 Bearbrick dolls, six iPhones, an iPad, MacBook and luxury bags. The Chinese couple, aged 31 and 25, was charged with operating the online investment scam, as well as money laundering.
The arrests were made during operation "Trust No One: Crypto King Hunting", which saw police raid six addresses in Bangkok's Srinakarin and Krungthep Kreetha neighbourhoods. US authorities helped in the investigation, police said.
The operation was launched after victims complained to the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau that criminals had lured them to invest in fake cryptocurrency and other assets.
The victims, who live in Bangkok and Prachuap Khiri Khan, lost more than 35 million baht in the scam, police said.
Police cooperated with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security and found another three foreigners had been lured by the scammers. Two victims lived in the US and one in Britain, they said.
The police suspect there are more victims and estimate that damages from the scam could be more than 10 billion baht
