Bangkok Police Arrests Six Men for Cryptocurrency Scam

The Nation Thailand on Tuesday disclosed that the Police Cyber Taskforce (PCT) of Bangkok has arrested six Taiwanese men for allegedly engaging in cryptocurrency fraud. 

According to the report, the six suspects tricked 500 Chinese and Taiwanese citizens into investing in fake cryptocurrency schemes that led to the loss of an undisclosed amount of funds. 

Damrongsak Kittiprapas, director of the PCT and the deputy National Police chief, revealed the arrest in a press conference today. 

The police chief noted that the defendants were busted during a raid in a rented apartment in the Prawet district of the country on May 27 following an anonymous tip-off. According to him, both PCT and the Immigration Bureau received a warning stating that two wanted Taiwanese men are allegedly involved in suspicious activities going on in the district. 

Kittiprapas also noted that both agencies monitored the suspects before storming the apartment on Friday for the arrest. The officers confiscated seven laptops and 45 mobile phones from the gang. 

Operating Unregistered Crypto Exchange

After the arrests of the suspects, police discovered that aside from luring people into investing in crypto schemes, the men are also involved in other crimes, like operating a crypto exchange without proper authorization. 

The six men have been charged with illegally operating trading services without a license, with additional separate charges.

Kittiprapas noted that four of the defendants have been accused of being immigrants working in the country without authorization. The fifth one was accused of using prohibited drugs (narcotics) while the sixth was charged with overstaying his visa. 

Phakphum Phipat, Immigration Police Chief Pol Lt-General, said the six men would be deported back to their home country after finalizing the case with appropriate punishments. 

Meanwhile, the latest developments from Thailand continue the recent rounds of crypto-related crime incidents. Just last week, Coinfomania reported the burst of a fake cryptocurrency exchange, BitVex, which had claimed to be owned by billionaire Dogecoin proponent Elon Musk. The platform used deep fake videos of key players in the industry to promote fake crypto offerings to attract unsuspecting investors.