He said the suspect, identified as Simon Jiang, 58, was apprehended on Saturday (Oct 20) after the Criminal Court approved a police request for an arrest warrant for him on a charge of defamation and extortion.
Maj Gen Surachate said the suspect entered Thailand using an Indonesian passport. Investigators found the man was the leader of a human trafficking gang which was also involved in fraud and the forgery of travel documents.
The investigation was expanded and it was discovered that there were also other gang members overseas, he said, adding that such criminal activities tarnish the country’s reputation.
Maj Gen Surachate also announced the arrest of two Guinean men in connection with an online romance scam which allegedly cheated female victims in several provinces out of more than B1.82mn.
The two suspects identified as Felix Mario, 37 and Gomis Christiano, 31, belonged to a gang operating in Africa, Maj Gen Surachate said. Police also seized a notebook computer, mobile phones and phone bills as evidence.
The suspects had fooled women on Facebook into transferring money to the gang’s bank account and they received about 3-5% of the money they had cheated as a reward, he said.
Their victims included women in Chanthaburi, Uthai Thani, Khon Kaen, Loei, Krabi, Surat Thani and Surin.
They were initially charged with overstaying their visas while investigators put together a fraud case against them, Maj Gen Surachate said.
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