13 foreigners arrested in Thailand for allegedly running scam targeting Australians

Call-centre gang accused of defrauding 14,000 Australians out of 40 million baht

Police from the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) have arrested 13 foreign nationals for allegedly operating a boiler room scam from Thailand that targeted Australians, defrauding around 40 million baht from some 14,000 victims.

The suspects — five Australians, six Britons, one Canadian, and one South African — were presented at a press conference held at the CIB headquarters on Tuesday afternoon.

Joint Thai-Australian investigation leads to arrests

CIB commissioner Pol Lt Gen Jirapop Phuridej said the suspects were arrested at 8.30am on Monday at a rented luxury house in Tambon Bang Pli Yai, in Samut Prakan’s Bang Pli district.

The operation was conducted in collaboration with Kristie-Lee Cressy, senior officer of the Australian Federal Police (AFP), who joined the press conference to announce the success of the joint Operation Firestorm between Thai and Australian authorities.

Evidence seized and charges filed

During the raid, police seized 58 items of evidence, including desktop computers, laptop computers, scripts used to deceive victims, and mobile phones.

Jirapop said the suspects have been charged with unlawful association and working without permission, as all entered Thailand on tourist visas and were not authorised to work in the kingdom.
 

Two alleged ringleaders among those arrested

The gang is believed to have promised victims in Australia returns of 7–10% per year from fake bond investments.

According to the AFP, the network had been operating for around 20 years, initially in other countries before its leaders relocated to Thailand early last year. The scam was previously busted in Indonesia before re-establishing operations in Thailand.

Jirapop said the group initially stayed in Pattaya before moving operations to Bangkok, where they recently held a planning meeting at a hotel in the Dok Mai subdistrict of Prawet district. From there, they moved to the Samut Prakan house, which they rented for approximately 120,000 baht per month.

Operating hours matched Australian business times

Police had been surveilling the property for several days before making the arrests. Officers noted that cars entered the property at 5am and left at 5.30pm, corresponding with Australia’s office hours of 9am to 6pm.

When police raided the property at 8.30am, they found the suspects inside a living room that had been converted into makeshift office cubicles.

The suspects claimed they were paid 3,000 Australian dollars per month, plus 2.5% commission on the funds they convinced victims to invest. They identified their bosses as Mark Dennis, 54, an Australian, and Mark Andrew Howship, 56, a Briton — both of whom were among those arrested.

Immigration to revoke visas and blacklist suspects

Pol Col Plern Klinpayom, deputy commander of Immigration Police Division 3, said all 13 suspects entered Thailand at different times and none had overstayed their visas. However, their visas would be revoked, and they would be blacklisted as persona non grata.

Australian authorities confirm scale of damage

Kristie-Lee Cressy of the AFP stated that the gang had caused significant financial harm to numerous victims in Australia, particularly over the past four years.