Chiang Rai man ‘helped scammers launder B30 million a day’

Chiang Rai man ‘helped scammers launder B30 million a day’

21-year-old believe said 70 groups in Poipet used solutions of his Foreign manager

Police say suspect Buraphon Yodthu of Chiang Rai laundered as much as 30 million baht a day for Chinese scam operators in the border town of Poipet, Cambodia. (Photo supplied/Wassayos Ngamkham)
Authorities say think Buraphon Yodthu of Chiang Rai laundered as much as 30 million baht a time for Chinese con providers in the border city of Poipet, Cambodia. ( Photo supplied/Wassayos Ngamkham )

A 21-year-old person arrested in Chiang Rai has admitted to having laundered an estimated 30 million ringgit a time for lots of Cambodia-based call-centre fraud criminals that preyed on Thais, authorities say.

Officials from the officers Technology Crime Suppression Division apprehended Buraphon Yodthu at Village Moo 6 in tambon Mae Salongnok of Mae Fa Luang area, Pol Maj Gen Athip Pongsiwapai, the TCSD captain, said on Saturday.

The suspect was wanted on an arrest warrant issued by the Criminal Court on April 25 last year on costs of colluding in international crime, common scams and inputting phony information into a computer program.

The arrest came after TCSD police launched a crackdown operation codenamed” Lockdown the Cat” to arrest members of a call centre scam network that duped a former Thai government official into transferring more than 10 million baht.

The officers managed to arrest the owners of mule accounts, those who hired people to open the accounts, call centre staff and interpreters who worked for a Chinese scam gang boss, said Pol Maj Gen Athip.

The arresting team later learned that Mr Buraphon, a key figure tasked with laundering money for his Chinese boss, had crossed the Cambodian border to return to Thailand. The officers tracked him down to his house on Doi Mae Salong hill in Mae Fa Luang district.

During questioning, the suspect confessed he had worked at an office for a call centre gang in Poipet town. The office, run by his Chinese boss, served as a money laundering hub for about 70 scam gangs that duped Thai victims in various forms.

He told investigators he received service fees of 8-12 % of the amount of money he laundered. About 30 million baht a day had been laundered by his office, he added.

The suspect was held in police custody for legal action.