BANGKOK, Thailand — Thai cyber police have arrested a Thai woman and an Indian man for running a call centre scam and laundering more than 60 million baht stolen from American victims.
Chatchapantakan Klaiklueang, Deputy Commissioner of the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB), told ThaiRath that officers arrested 41-year-old Wandee in Roi Et province and 29-year-old Gurdeep Singh in Bangkok on October 14.
The arrests followed cooperation between the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) office in Bangkok and the Englewood Police Department in the United States. The joint investigation revealed that American victims had been deceived by a transnational fraud network, with their funds transferred into Thai mule accounts.
One victim, an elderly man from Denver, Colorado, received a fake PayPal email in May 2024, claiming he had been charged USD $451.99 for a Bitcoin transaction. After calling the provided number, he was tricked into transferring USD $59,350 (about 2.17 million baht) to a Thai corporate account.
Following months of investigation, Thai officers carried out two raids on October 14.
In Bangkok’s Bang Chueak Nang area, police arrested Singh, seizing 200,000 baht in cash and four bank books.
In Roi Et, officers arrested Wandee for her role in opening fraudulent corporate accounts.
Police found that the gang used fake companies to launder stolen money through Thailand, disguising transactions as legitimate business operations. The scheme reportedly affected at least 26 victims, each losing between USD $60,000 and $150,000, totaling over USD $1.7 million (60 million baht).
During questioning, Singh claimed to be running a gold trading business, but investigators found evidence linking him to the scam’s financial operations. He allegedly withdrawn funds, purchased gold, and sent it to India to resell.
Wandee confessed to opening a company account under her name in exchange for 10,000 baht, fully aware of its purpose.
Both suspects face charges of operating a transnational criminal organization, fraud, computer crimes, opening mule accounts, and money laundering.
The CCIB emphasized its continued collaboration with international agencies to dismantle similar cross-border cybercrime networks.
