BANGKOK – A huge pile of money was displayed at a press conference held on Tuesday at the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau’s (CCIB) headquarters in Muang Thong Thani where cyber police announced the results of “Operation Black Hat,” a crackdown on a criminal network that lured elderly people into investing in cryptocurrency. They seized assets worth 125 million baht.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Worawat Wattanakornbancha, Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau commissioner, said that the case originated from complaints filed last year by victims who were deceived into investing in digital assets or cryptocurrency by scammers using fake profiles. The victims were unable to withdraw their investments, resulting in losses of over 530 million baht.
The investigation revealed that the scam operated across multiple jurisdictions and followed a similar modus operandi.
Investigators found that 308 million baht of the losses were attributable to elderly victims. They obtained arrest warrants for 90 suspects and arrested more than 23, mostly Chinese, Singaporean, Laotian, Vietnamese and Thai nationals.
During the investigation, the CCIB also seized the websites “ufabetjc” and “play beer777,” which had an annual turnover of over 13 billion baht. Seven suspects were arrested, including beneficiaries, financial managers and account holders. Cash worth 117.8 million baht, a Porsche worth about 8 million baht and other items were also seized, bringing the total value of assets to over 125 million baht.
After the arrests, investigators discovered a link between the financial traces of the cryptocurrency investment scam and those of online gambling websites. They found that the money obtained through the investment fraud was laundered through the online gambling sites.
The investigation reveals that the criminal group had a clear division of work. Suspect Kanchanipit, who was also involved in the online gambling websites, acted as the financial manager for various transnational criminal groups. The money laundering process involved converting criminal proceeds into cryptocurrency.
The CCIB works with the Anti-Money Laundering Office to seize and freeze the assets associated with the offense. Once the investigation is complete, the assets are distributed to the victims.
