Cyber Crime investigation Bureau (CCIB) officers arrested one Thai woman and three Chinese nationals for operating a call centre scam and deceiving a 19 year old son into stealing nearly 11 million baht in cash and valuables from his mother from his mother.
The victim, identified only as Mick, was targeted in November last year by fraudsters posing as police officers. The gang falsely claimed that Mick was linked to criminal activity and instructed him to surrender all cash and valuables belonging to himself and his mother so they could be inspected to prove his innocence.
Believing the claims, Mick allegedly broke into his mother’s safe and handed over property worth almost 11 million baht. The assets included gold jewellery valued at about 3.2 million baht, diamond jewellery, valuable Buddhist amulets and cash.
The investigation initially led police to a 31 year old Chinese national, Qin Hao, who was accused of collecting the valuables from Mick at a meeting point in Pak Kret district, Nonthaburi.
Police also identified two additional Chinese suspects, 31 year old Huang Jiyi and 32 year old Zhang Hauqing, who remain wanted.
During the first operation, officers seized gold worth approximately 3.5 million baht, along with two vehicles and a mobile phone believed to be linked to the scam.
The investigation later expanded to two houses in Pathum Thani province. Police seized 3.8 million baht in cash, two mobile phones, about 100 kilogrammes of high-grade silver and a Mercedes-Benz S500E. The total value of the seized assets exceeded 11 million baht.
At the end of June this year, officers gathered additional evidence that led to the arrest of three more suspects: 39 year old Chinese national Zheng Likul, 47 year old Chinese national Houzhi Zhou and 31 year old Thai national Suda Songwattanawanich.
According to the CCIB, Zheng and Suda are accused of laundering money by converting proceeds from the alleged scam into digital assets, while Houzhi allegedly managed transfers involving those digital assets.
Police said they have identified several other suspected members of the network and are continuing the investigation to locate and prosecute those involved.
Authorities have not yet said whether Mick and his mother will be able to recover any of the seized assets.
The story More Thai and Chinese scammers held for deceiving son to steal from mother as seen on Thaiger News.
