BANGKOK: Thai authorities have arrested 11 more suspects in a widening investigation of a Chinese man charged this month with possessing military-grade weapons and links to cyberscam networks, police said Thursday (May 21).
Sun Mingchen was arrested around two weeks ago after police discovered a massive arsenal -- including assault rifles, explosives and grenades -- at his home in the beach resort city of Pattaya.
Police initially investigated whether the cache was linked to terrorism but later ruled that out, saying the weapons were tied to scam operations based in neighbouring Cambodia.
Police said Thursday they had arrested 11 more suspects linked to a network that had defrauded victims of around US$25 million.
"All recovered evidence clearly links Sun Mingchen to a Cambodia-based cyberscam syndicate operated by a network under Lan Tian, also known as 'Xiao Lan'," according to a police statement.
Those detained included Sun himself, who faces additional weapons possession charges, and a Taiwanese woman believed to have worked with him and held under the same charges.
Thai nationals were also arrested, including suspects accused of supplying weapons to Sun, and three Thai officials accused of forging documents used to establish a front business for him, police said.
Police also uncovered financial transactions linked to Sun and online scam operations that allegedly targeted victims through more than 600 bank accounts, causing estimated losses of more than 815 million baht ($25 million).
Authorities said they were investigating whether the network was connected to other crimes, including money laundering and illegal cryptocurrency trading.
Southeast Asia has emerged as a hub for the transnational scam industry in recent years, with organised crime groups and legions of scammers -- some willing, others trafficked -- stealing tens of billions of dollars annually from victims around the world. - AFP
