Man arrested in Bangkok linked to phone scammers and online gambling gangs
PUBLISHED : 18 Aug 2023 at 18:11
A Taiwanese man wanted for allegedly laundering the equivalent of 3 billion baht for phone scammers and online gambling gangs has been returned to Taipei following his arrest in Bangkok.
Kuo Che-min, who was arrested in Bangkok on July 27, was transferred into the custody of prosecutors in the Taiwanese capital after being flown there on Aug 10. Thai Immigration Bureau police confirmed the news at a briefing on Friday.
Taiwanese authorities began investigating Mr Kuo’s organisation last year and took 23 people into custody, seizing cash and real estate in several raids.
The organisation has been accused of handling illegal transactions to launder foreign currencies totalling about NT$2.7 billion (3 billion baht).
Mr Kuo absconded to Singapore in October last year and had been travelling between Southeast Asian countries using Taiwanese and Cambodian passports, said Chen Ming-chun, deputy commissioner of the Criminal Investigation Bureau in Taiwan.
Taiwanese investigators reportedly were alerted to Mr Kuo’s whereabouts after Malaysian authorities flagged his Cambodian passport when he used it to travel between Malaysia and Thailand.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, which represents the interests of the island republic in Thailand, brought the case to the attention of local immigration police.
The Office said Mr Kuo had set up companies in several countries to launder money for phone scam gangs based in Cambodia and online gambling gangs operating in several countries in Asia and Europe.
According to the Immigration Bureau, Mr Kuo had entered the country with the use of a Thailand Elite Visa.
Immigration police apprehended the suspect at a luxury condominium in Klong San district of Bangkok, said Pol Lt Gen Pakphumpiat Sajjaphan, the bureau commissioner.
During the search of the condo, investigators found many electronic devices believed to have been used for committing offences.