BANGKOK — Thai police have arrested 34-year-old Yu Hamaji, a Japanese national, for allegedly masterminding a massive scam that defrauded more than 200,000 elderly Japanese retirees living in Thailand. The scam, which targeted retirees with fake health insurance schemes, swindled victims out of approximately 300 million baht (¥1.36 billion).
Hamaji was apprehended on Sunday as he attempted to leave Thailand. Police had previously raided properties in Pattaya, where five other Japanese nationals were arrested. Authorities believe Hamaji was one of the leaders of the operation, which used a call center in Thailand to impersonate Japanese government officials and sell bogus health insurance packages.
The maximum loss reported by a single victim was around ¥100 million ($630,000). Authorities are continuing their investigation and are actively searching for two remaining suspects with the assistance of the Japanese Embassy in Bangkok.
