Myawaddy is almost done for!
With the establishment of a coordination center between China and Thailand to jointly combat it, especially since the Thai Prime Minister has made explanations and assurances in person in Beijing, it is estimated that no one will doubt this. Laos has also clearly stated that it will limit the supply of electricity to Myanmar (Daqili) and resolutely combat telecommunications fraud.
But now, what more people are worried and suspicious about is: After the "three cuts", have the fraudsters in Myawaddy moved? Can the leaders of telecommunications fraud, gambling, money laundering, and human trafficking be caught!
How much money did the fraud leaders make, where did they run, how did they run, and how to catch them back, I will share a case later, let's talk about some background first.
Regarding the issue of combating telecommunications fraud, the attitude and determination of the state are beyond doubt. Just to mention, according to public media reports, China has set up another coordination center (or front-line command post) in Mae Sot County, Thailand, which borders Myawaddy, Myanmar, specifically to coordinate the rescue of victims and encircle Myawaddy.
On the Thai side, to be fair, not whitewashing, these days have also been fully exerted, not only strengthening border control but also amending laws to strictly manage banks, social media, and telecommunications companies, etc. But these are still far from enough!
In fact, Haishi Building feels that what Thailand currently needs to do most is to follow the list and information provided by China and hurry to arrest the backbone leaders of telecommunications fraud hidden in Thailand! Why say so? Just think about the situation in northern Myanmar.
In yesterday's article, I mentioned that among the seven countries of the Indochina Peninsula, Myanmar is the poorest, and Thailand has the best location and is richer than its neighboring countries. When telecommunications fraud was rampant in northern Myanmar, some fraud leaders and their behind-the-scenes "protectors", such as the young children of the four major families, were caught in Yunnan. Why?
Because the scammers scammed a huge amount of money, and as a result, Myanmar was so poor that there was no place to spend it. Wanting to show off, squander, upgrade their lifestyle, and improve their living standards, they could only go to neighboring countries.
Similarly, it is not difficult to imagine that many of the backbones and leaders of telecommunications fraud in Myawaddy and Daqili are hiding in Thailand, disguised as successful people, remotely commanding on one hand and enjoying a good life on the other, and they can run away when the situation is bad. For example, Ye Wanyou (29 years old) and Li Weijie (30 years old) mentioned in yesterday's article are such examples. Many people say that the 15 million Thai baht found at the scene is too little to count as a leader, but the person has been caught, and are you afraid that his assets cannot be traced and recovered?
Having said that, we still need to see how Myanmar combats telecommunications fraud!
Local time on the evening of February 6th, the Myanmar State Administration Council released a message: The Myanmar government attaches great importance to and severely combats illegal crimes such as online gambling and telecommunications fraud. Criminals seek benefits by taking advantage of the unstable situation in the border areas of Myanmar and participating in large-scale telecommunications fraud and online gambling in cooperation with ethnic local armed organizations. The Myanmar government is intensifying investigations and severely combating illegal crimes of telecommunications fraud and online gambling, while also calling on the public to report to the government, provide clues, and jointly combat.
Please note the last two sentences. The attitude and stance of the Myanmar military government could not be clearer: We know that there is telecommunications fraud, but we cannot directly intervene in the affairs of Shan State (Daqili) and Karen State (Myawaddy), and we cannot manage without your reports.
So, Myanmar is unreliable, the key is Thailand, Thailand must hurry to arrest, six countries together to encircle! In fact, Thailand has also had more than 500,000 people affected by telecommunications and online gambling fraud in recent years, and the money given to scammers last year was also 13 billion RMB.
Next, let's take a look at this case.
According to Singaporean media reports, one of the main characters in Singapore's 3 billion SGD money laundering case, netizens jokingly called the "ancestor" of telecommunications fraud, Wang Shuiming, was arrested in Montenegro, Europe on January 28!
Wang Shuiming is from Fujian and has been wanted by China for online gambling, fraud, and money laundering crimes. When he flew to Montenegro from the Maldives by private plane to celebrate the Chinese New Year, local police conducted identity checks on incoming passengers and caught him, using a passport from the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu at the time.
According to publicly available online information, this should be the first exposure of Wang Shuiming's whereabouts since he was released from prison in Singapore in June or July last year and deported to Japan.
Wang Shuiming is the head of the "Hengbo Baowang" case group involved in online gambling fraud. It is rumored that as early as 2012 to 2013, Wang Shuiming went to the Philippines to set up Hengbo Baowang, one of the first Fujianese to engage in online gambling in the Philippines.
Hengbo Baowang is very famous in the gambling industry. At its peak, in the Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia, Dubai, the Golden Triangle, Myanmar, anyone who does online gambling has to find it for agency. By 2016, Wang Shuiming had accumulated a lot of capital and began to expand, and many underground gamblers from Fujian went to the Philippines to join him. He was already the industry leader, nicknamed "Ming Da" and "Da Ming Zong".
It is rumored that at least 7 to 10 online gambling groups are affiliated with him. Different groups operate multiple online gambling platforms, and at the peak, there were more than 10,000 employees, with a monthly payroll exceeding 100 million RMB.
In May 2022, the "Hengbo Baowang" case was cracked, and the Shandong police arrested 131 suspects during the operation, seizing more than 10 million RMB of involved funds on the spot, but nine suspects illegally stayed in Singapore, including Wang Shuiming. He also has passports from Turkey, Vanuatu, and Cambodia, as well as a Chinese ID card.
Singapore police charged Wang Shuiming with money laundering, confirming the freezing of assets worth over 1.1 billion, including high-end real estate, cars, luxury goods, and cash, and eventually, 1 billion in assets were confiscated after the case was sentenced. This is just Wang Shuiming alone, his gang of 15 people was determined to have laundered 3 billion SGD, which is more than 15 billion RMB.
Through investigation and trial and "bargaining", 10 people were convicted of money laundering and sentenced to prison, but according to local legal limits, the sentences were not long, only 13 to 17 months. At the same time, 92% of the assets seized from them were confiscated, which is more than 5 billion RMB, including 1 billion confiscated from Wang Shuiming. Singapore
In this sensational money laundering case in the Chinese world, Wang Shuiming initially said that his money all came from loan business in mainland China, and later admitted that it came from gambling and real estate investments in the Philippines. The "insiders" who helped them launder money were two people from an American bank.
The oldest of the 10 people imprisoned was only 45 years old, and half were in their 30s. By August 2023, all had been released from prison, deported, and permanently barred from entering Singapore. This verdict has made many people question that the international legal pursuit of telecommunications fraud and money laundering crimes is still insufficient.
In addition to the 10 people sentenced, 17 others have escaped from Singapore, including Wang Shuiming's own brother Wang Shuiting. In November 2024, the Singapore police revealed that 15 of them agreed to let their total assets worth 10 billion RMB be confiscated, and Singapore then withdrew their arrest warrants.
It has to be said, Singapore picked up a big bargain!
So, it is indeed good news that Wang Shuiming was caught in Montenegro. The Montenegrin police have stated that Wang Shuiming is suspected of organizing illegal online gambling, with many Chinese citizens participating, and he will face charges in a Montenegrin court. The current issue is considering how to extradite him.
Although Montenegro and China have not yet signed a formal extradition agreement, the increasingly close economic, political, and cultural exchanges between the two countries make extradition cooperation full of possibilities. Because Montenegro historically belonged to the Eastern European Red Camp, established diplomatic relations with China shortly after its independence in 2006, and became an important trading partner of China.
If Wang Shuiming is extradited back to China, he will undoubtedly face more severe punishment. According to the latest legal provisions, the maximum sentence for organizing illegal gambling has been increased from three years to five years, and organizers and repeat offenders of overseas illegal gambling will face aggravated punishment. Wang Shuiming was previously sentenced to only 13 months in Singapore for money laundering and forgery, and the sentence he faces in China will far exceed this judgment.
Wang Shuiming once dreamed of laundering his criminal history through transnational money laundering, trying to reintegrate into society with the image of a "wealth legend". However, with the close cooperation of police forces in China and other countries, his "whitewashing" plan has long been declared a failure.
Although Wang Shuiming holds passports from multiple countries, these have not given him the opportunity to escape legal punishment. Globally, crimes involving telecommunications fraud, online gambling, and money laundering are increasingly subject to more severe crackdowns.
Especially, China has expressed its clear stance and firm determination to combat telecommunications fraud, online gambling, and money laundering crimes through practical actions—
The hard-earned money of the common people must be protected, no matter how arrogant the fraud leaders are, or where they run, we must find a way to catch them back!
