Recently, the sensational case of the "arrest of a Chinese telecom fraud leader in Thailand" has been updated with the latest investigative information by the police. On November 10, in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat, a core member of a Chinese telecom fraud gang, who had been hiding for 7 months, surrendered to the Thai police.
A 33-year-old Chinese man, Jiang Zhaotian, contacted the Thai police through a lawyer, indicating his intention to surrender. Jiang Zhaotian was then taken to the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) in Bangkok yesterday (November 10).
After raiding four call center fraud bases in Nakhon Si Thammarat on March 29, the 33-year-old Chinese man Jiang Zhaotian became the subject of an arrest warrant. The fraud gang, operated by a Chinese citizen, targeted victims from Thailand, Russia, Japan, and China.
In the raid, the police arrested 90 call center fraud criminals and seized evidence including 192 computers, 854 mobile phones and SIM cards, 22 routers, and 342 bank accounts.
The headquarters of the fraud center was located on land owned by a 51-year-old Thai woman named Raewadee Theeppaiboon, who was the deputy mayor of the Chandi district in the province at the time. Raewadee was also accused of receiving economic benefits (rent) from the criminal operation.
Further investigation revealed that the gang leader, the Chinese man Jiang Zhaotian, managed to escape arrest. Jiang was responsible for transporting each scammer from their residence to the office for work. He successfully evaded capture and hid for over seven months before surrendering.
Recently, Jiang Zhaotian voluntarily surrendered to the police, and he will face four charges, including:
Article 211 of the Criminal Code: Participation in a secret society or criminal gang.
Article 342 of the Criminal Code: Impersonating another person to commit fraud.
Section 14 of the Computer Act: Importing false information into a computer system, causing harm to individuals or the public.
Section 5 of the Act on Prevention and Suppression of Participation in Transnational Criminal Organizations: Becoming a member of a transnational criminal organization.
The punishment for Jiang will be discussed during the court session.
However, according to insiders, the case is complex, and the 33-year-old Chinese man Jiang Zhaotian's act of surrender is suspected to be a case of "taking the blame for someone else," and the police are digging deeper into the details of the case. More evidence and legal basis are needed regarding his surrender.
In related cases, in October, one of the telecom fraud call center gangs in Bangkok was raided, two Thai citizens and one Chinese leader were arrested, and over 18,000 pieces of scam equipment were seized, with police discovering over 5.5 million Thai baht circulating in their illegal activities.
