PUBLISHED : 26 Jul 2023 at 04:00
The government has returned about 400 million baht seized from a Chinese online scam gang to the Chinese government, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said yesterday.
He said he and his team went to Beijing to return the money to their Chinese counterparts after officials from the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) and police arrested the gang living in luxurious condominium units in Bangkok last year.
He said Amlo reported that the gang lured about 33,000 Chinese people into investing in an e-commerce business in China. After getting their victims’ money, the scammers fled to Thailand and used the money to buy property.
After the scammers were arrested and charged last year, their assets were sold for about 400 million baht, he said, adding the government told Beijing they wanted to return the money to the victims via the Chinese government.
Mr Wissanu said the money was handed to Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong when the two met in Beijing on July 19.
“We are pleased to learn from the minister that it is the first time that the Chinese government has received damages caused by Chinese scammers from the government of another country,” he added.
Beijing extended its gratitude by offering two fellowships to Amlo officials every year.
Mr Wissanu said more such cooperation in law enforcement and security will be looked at in the future.