Four arrested over romance-investment scams
published : 30 Nov 2023 at 13:06
writer: R May
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Wassayos Ngamkham
Police have arrested two Chinese and two Thais for alleged involvement in romance-investment scams and impounded assets worth about 300 million baht.
Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop Bhuridej, chief of the Central Investigation Bureau, said on Wednesday the arrests and seizures were made at five raided premises in Bangkok and Samut Prakan on Tuesday.
He identified the Chinese suspects as Hongling Ruan, 44, and Zhao Yue, 59. The arrested Thais are both women, identified as Lawan Thawee-apiradeepoon and Sawiktree Angkabut.
They were charged with public fraud, computer crime, participation in a transnational crime organisation and money laundering.
Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop linked the suspects to nine other Thai and Chinese suspects arrested earlier.
They allegedly used false Facebook profiles of attractive women to approach victims they lured into romance and cryptocurrency investment scams.
One of the new Chinese suspects is the husband of 28-year-old Thai model Jakkreena Chookhaowsri, known as Kiki Maxim. She is one of the nine suspects previously arrested whose combined assets totalled about one billion baht.
Pol Maj Gen Athip Pongsiwapai, commander of the Technology Crime Suppression Division, said the gang laundered their profits by buying luxury houses and vehicles and investing in lounges and restaurants.
Police have now impounded assets worth 1.3 billion baht, including 19 luxury houses, 14 luxury vehicles and 6 million baht in cash.
Vocabulary
- allegedly: claimed to have done something wrong, but not yet proven - ที่กล่าวหา
- assets: things owned, especially property and money - สินทรัพย์
- cryptocurrency (noun): one of a number of currencies used as digital cash without involving the banking system -
- fraud: the crime of intentionally deceiving someone or cheating in order to gain an advantage or benefit - การฉ้อโกง การหลอกลวง เล่ห์เพทุบาย
- impounded: taken away by the police - ยึดไว้เป็นของกลาง
- lure (verb): to persuade someone to do something by making it seem very attractive - หลอกล่อ
- money laundering: hiding the origin of money obtained from illegal activities by putting it into legal businesses - การฟอกเงิน
- scam: a dishonest plan, especially for getting money - กลโกง, แผนร้าย
- suppression: the process of stopping a harmful activity through laws or by force - การใช้กฎหมายหรือกำลังยุติกระบวนการ หรือความรุนแรง
- transnational: involving more than one country; present in more than one country - ข้ามชาติ