Bangkok: DSI arrests foreign teacher gang that created over 2,000 fake websites, deceiving victims worldwide in over 20 countries, causing over 2 billion baht in damages. Pol. Lt. Col. Yutthana Praedam, Director-General of the Department of Special Investigation, along with Pol. Lt. Wisanu Chimtrakul, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Special Investigation, and Pol. Lt. Khemchat Prakaihongmanee, Director of the Technology and Information Crime Division, held a press conference on Operation Shadow Bay, which dismantles an international fraudulent network that tricks people into buying non-existent products or services through fake websites.
According to Thai News Agency, DSI, together with the police, raided and arrested a scam gang and foreign network at 11 locations in 5 provinces nationwide, namely Bangkok, Nakhon Pathom, Krabi, Kanchanaburi, and Chanthaburi. They arrested 9 suspects with arrest warrants: Mr. Leevinus, a Nigerian national, Mr. Derick, a Cameroonian national, Mr. Kong, a Cameroonian national, Ms. Chitpas, Mr. Thanitphop, Mr. Anuchat, Ms. Chantrat, Ms. Panusaya, and Ms. Orrawan, Thai nationals. The charges include jointly participating in a transnational crime organization, jointly importing false computer data into a computer system in a manner likely to cause damage to the public and the country's economic security, jointly defrauding the public by impersonating others, jointly laundering money, and colluding by agreement of two or more people to commit money laundering. The offense involved conspiracy, leading to the seizure of assets, including digital money, cars, motorcycles, 15 tons of copper-like objects, telephones, ta blets, computers, and bank account books.
The assets have been seized and commercial banks have been contacted to seize over 500 accounts related to the crime, with the total damages from this fraud exceeding 2 billion baht, affecting Thailand's credibility internationally. The DSI has coordinated with the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) to take action on all seized assets and return them to the victims.
The DSI Director stated that there are 24 arrest warrants for this network, which includes 7 foreigners who use foreign language teaching visas. The rest are Thai nationals. Initially, 9 people have been arrested, with more expected to follow. This network has been active since 2016 and is expected to expand to include networks abroad.
For this operation, DSI expanded the investigation from the fraudulent sale of gloves and face masks during the COVID-19 outbreak. It was discovered that this international scam gang has more than 30 core members who entered Thailand on tourist visas, married Thai women to apply for visa extensions, and applied for jobs as foreign language teachers. They opened front companies to launder money and apply for visas to stay in Thailand. Most of these scammers are Cameroonians, Nigerians, and Indians who disguise themselves as teachers, opening more than 145 fake companies and over 500 mule accounts to receive money transfers. They created fake websites to trick people into selling products and services on more than 2,000 websites, affecting both Thai and foreign victims from 15 countries, with total damages of more than 2 billion baht. Each fake company opened 5-8 bank accounts simultaneously and posted products for sale that differed according to the needs of each area.