Immigration police have arrested a Chinese fugitive in Bangkok who allegedly ran a mule account network that supplied more than 133 bank accounts to money laundering gangs, with about 500 million yuan (roughly 2 billion baht, or about US$62 million) passing through them.
Officers from Immigration Division 3 arrested the 37 year old man, identified as Wu, on Friday, October 16 at a home in a housing estate in Saphan Sung district. China has issued an arrest warrant for him over offences linked to a loan-shark gang. Police said he had evaded immigration officers for more than 3 years.
Police said Wu supported a transnational crime gang by paying people to open bank accounts, then collecting the cards and account details and passing them to money laundering groups. He also allegedly exchanged cryptocurrency and foreign currency for criminal groups and arranged visas for members of gangs linked to other laundering cases.
Investigators said Wu tried to throw them off by using fake documents to report his address, changing his licence plates and wrapping his car in a different colour. Police used Interpol’s database to track him, and fieldwork led them to a luxury home in the Ramkhamhaeng area of Saphan Sung.
His permission to stay in Thailand had expired about 3 years and 8 months earlier. He was charged with overstaying under Section 81 of the Immigration Act 1979 and handed to investigators. Police said he will be deported, and they will coordinate with Chinese agencies to hand him over to face the warrant.
Immigration Bureau commander Nopasilp Poonsawat has ordered all units to step up the pursuit of transnational criminals and undocumented immigrants, particularly mule account and money laundering networks. The bureau said it will keep screening foreigners entering the country and prosecute those who break the law, so that Thailand is not a hiding place for fugitives.
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