Authorities seize 46 million baht in cash from transnational money-laundering operation
Police have seized 46 million baht in cash as they dismantle a transnational money-laundering syndicate operating through Huione Pay. The group was found to be withdrawing over 1 billion baht each month.
The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), through the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD), arrested three Myanmar nationals: Oo Shin (57), Thida (57), and Louk Wai (54), at a residence in the Tha Sai Luat subdistrict, Mae Sot district, Tak province.
The arrests followed complaints from victims who had reported being defrauded by scammers using a Facebook page offering stock trading advice.
The victims were invited to join a Line group with a large membership, where a front person would claim that profitable trading and withdrawals were possible. After observing the group for 2-3 months, victims were encouraged to invest.
Group administrators invited them to VIP groups and communicated via Line Official, where they were instructed to download a fraudulent app named Ulela Max and transfer funds to invest in stock trading, with promised returns of around 10%.
Initially, victims transferred hundreds of thousands of baht to corporate mule accounts and successfully withdrew profits. Encouraged by these early successes, they transferred millions more, totalling over 20 million baht across 18 transactions within two months.
However, after realising they had been defrauded and unable to withdraw their funds, the victims reported the scam to TCSD investigators.
Through a detailed financial investigation, the police traced the funds to a complex system involving multiple mules. The funds were initially laundered through cryptocurrency platforms in Thailand before being transferred back and forth to obscure tracking.
The mules operated in Poipet, Cambodia, where the money was funnelled into Huione Pay wallets for money laundering, before being transferred to other wallets. The funds were then sent to the suspects, Myanmar nationals, via several platforms and exchanged for cash in Mae Sot.
On a daily basis, between 20-30 million baht was withdrawn in cash from local banks and smuggled across the Myanmar border at the Mae Sot immigration checkpoint.
As a result, TCSD investigators gathered sufficient evidence to obtain arrest warrants for 28 suspects, including 24 mule account operators and 4 Myanmar nationals who were the ultimate beneficiaries.
With a search warrant from Mae Sot Provincial Court, officers raided the target, arresting three Myanmar nationals and seizing over 46 million baht in cash. The suspects were handed over to TCSD officers for further legal proceedings.
During initial questioning, the suspects denied all charges. They face charges of:
- Conspiring to defraud the public by impersonating others
- Participating in a criminal syndicate
- Fraudulently entering false information into a computer system, causing potential harm to the public
- Conspiring to commit money laundering
Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop Bhuridej, Commissioner of the CIB, further stated that, after investigation, no links had been found between the gang and Kok An, a prominent Cambodian call centre gang leader.
Authorities will continue to expand the investigation, he said. However, it has been discovered that some of the suspects involved in the operation are hiding in neighbouring countries that do not have extradition treaties with Thailand.
“Nevertheless, we will request Interpol to issue arrest warrants to exert further pressure on these networks,” Jirabhop said.
