Six individuals from a scam ring — comprising five Thai nationals and one Ghanian — have been apprehended for deceiving a Japanese firm into transferring over 200 million baht.
The Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) officers apprehended six individuals—five Thai nationals and one individual from Ghana—in separate incidents in Bangkok, Nakhon Pathom, and Nonthaburi, charging them with fraud.
The two additional gang members—aThai national and another individual from Nigeria—were still at large as of Friday. Warrants for their arrests were issued, according to Pol Gen Thatchai Pitaneelaboot, who serves as the Royal Thai Police inspector-general.
The group was charged with deceiving a company in Japan into moving 228 million baht into a bank account belonging to one of their associates in Thailand.
The CCIB succeeded in freezing nearly all the funds, yet the criminals were still able to withdraw 13 million baht, according to Pol Gen Thatchai at a press conference announcing the arrests of several suspects. The event was joined by Pol Lt Gen Trairong Phiewphan, head of the CCIB, along with high-ranking cybercrime officers.
The group established an enterprise in Thailand with the intention of exploiting a Japanese firm that had been deceived into sending funds for buying their goods. Additionally, authorities suspected the existence of another business presumably created by this criminal network. The CCIB agents planned to broaden their inquiry to determine if the Thai company acted as a proxy for the criminals’ own entity.
Police Lieutenant General Trairong stated that the criminal group behind this scam had been planning their scheme for an extended period. They managed to gain entry into a South Korean affiliate organization before establishing a new entity in Thailand under their guise. Once inside, the criminals compromised email communications with the South Korean enterprise and issued fraudulent bills to a Japanese corporation, falsely claiming they were going to supply products to them.
Subsequently, the funds were moved to an account held by a shell company established by the criminal group in Thailand. The fraud investigation team at the Japanese corporation identified discrepancies in these transactions. Following this discovery, they requested assistance from the CCIB for further examination, which resulted in the apprehension of all parties implicated, according to Pol Lt Gen Trairong.
Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
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