Chinese nationals did business with compatriots over WeChat, charging 5% interest a month
PUBLISHED : 29 Nov 2024 at 21:07
PATTAYA – Seventeen Chinese nationals have been arrested in two houses in Pattaya on charges of operating an illegal loan business, police say.
The arrests followed raids on Wednesday at two luxury houses rented in the Khao Phra Tamnak area of South Pattaya, said Pol Lt Gen Yingyos Thepjamnong, acting commander of Provincial Police Region 2.
Police arrested 17 suspects and seized laptops, mobile phones and a list of more than 2,000 customers, with a turnover of more than 400 million baht.
Police had been monitoring the group’s activities for more than two weeks before taking the action, Pol Lt Gen Yingyos said.
Investigators found that the suspects invited other Chinese customers to borrow money by advertising and chatting via WeChat.
They made loan contracts online and lent money by transferring it through a Chinese bank. The interest rate was 5% per month.
If a customer did not pay off their loan on time, another group of Chinese people would act as debt collectors to threaten the debtors, police said.