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Journalist
Sead Fadilpašić
Journalist
Sead Fadilpašić
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Authorities in Thailand have arrested two Chinese nationals in connection to a crypto scam and kidnapping.
On Wednesday, the Technology Crime Suppression Division of the Thai police announced the arrest of a 27-year-old woman, Wu Di, the South China Morning Post reported, citing local media. The police apprehended her during a raid at a luxury pool villa in the coastal tourist hotspot of Pattaya.
It turns out, however, that she rented the accommodation with her boyfriend, a fugitive with an Interpol Red Notice. Zhou Zongyon, a 29-year-old man, was wanted for kidnapping.
Wu was allegedly part of crypto scams that stole more than 600 million baht ($17.7 million) from the victims over just the previous two months.
Out of this amount, nearly 1.5 million baht belonged to a Thai teacher who first reported the scam to the police in April 2024.
The Thai police soon discovered the alleged scammer’s modus operandi. Wu would conduct her fraud on Facebook. She’d contact the targets and work to convince them to invest in a non-existent Singapore-dollar-denominated investment fund.
In the case of the teacher, she invested a smaller amount and received a smaller return, which she was able to withdraw. This is a common method to create false legitimacy around a fraudulent business.
However, as is typical of these scams, once the victim invests more money, the scammers go dark, and the victim never sees their money again. The teacher invested larger amounts over 16 days, but was unable to withdraw any in the end,
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Four Puppet Accounts Connected to Thailand Scam
During the raid, the police found significant evidence on Wu’s phone. The images on the phone and other items depicted a luxury lifestyle, expensive cars, large quantities of cash, and suspected drug paraphernalia, according to other reports.
Furthermore, her travel record showed frequent movement between Thailand, Cambodia, and Malaysia. Wu claims she was selling concert tickets.
However, the investigators traced the stolen funds to four accounts associated with Thai citizens. These individuals are called ‘mules’ and the accounts are the so-called ‘puppet accounts’ or ‘mule accounts.’ The accounts’ purpose is to hold the money briefly before the scammers are able to convert it into crypto.
The scammers converted the funds to USDT through P2P transactions on Binance and other Thai digital asset exchanges, the reports claim. Subsequently, they transferred the stablecoins to Wu’s digital wallet registered in Cambodia.
Moreover, the police found that her account was linked to at least 63 fraud cases. The stolen funds amount to the nearly $18 million reported to the police.
Furthermore, Thai authorities arrested three individuals linked to the puppet accounts and are searching for the fourth.
Meanwhile, Wu denies the allegations. She says her ex-boyfriend opened the account to hide funds for a criminal organization.
Zhou is detained and charged with the kidnapping of a Chinese woman in Cambodia, demanding a ransom. The woman is still missing. Zhou may also be involved in assisting money transfers for scams, the local media reports.
Commander Lt. Gen. Trairong Phiwphan commented that the couple will first face legal proceedings in Thailand. Then, Chinese authorities will take over for prosecution under Chinese law.
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