6 Taiwanese arrested in Bangkok for crypto fraud

Six Taiwanese men accused of duping more than 500 people, mostly Chinese and Taiwanese nationals, into investing in fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes have been arrested during a police raid in Bangkok’s Prawet district.

Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas, deputy national police chief and director of the Police Cyber Taskforce (PCT), said on Tuesday a combined team of his officers and others from the Immigration Bureau apprehended the six Taiwanese suspects during a raid on a row house in Prawet district on May 27.

The gang had used Thailand as an operational base, Pol Gen Damrongsak said. Police had closely monitored the activities of the suspects, who rarely left the building. 

Armed with a search warrant issued by the Phra Khanong Criminal Court, the police team raided the building and arrested the six suspects, two of whom were wanted on warrants issued by Taiwanese authorities on accusations of committing public fraud. Six notebook computers and 47 mobile phones were seized.

An examination of the seized notebook computers and mobile phones revealed that the suspects had lured people into investing in fraudulent digital currency schemes. The gang used Chinese bank accounts for financial transactions.

The PCT director said the suspects were arrested on various charges: four for working without permission, one for drug offences and another for overstaying his visa. All were held in police custody for legal action.

Pol Maj Gen Archayon Kraithong, deputy commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, said immigration authorities would revoke the suspects’ permission to remain in the country and deport them after the cases against them were completed. They would be declared persona non grata, he said.