BANGKOK: Cybercrime police arrested a Malaysian man and his Thai wife on Tuesday (Dec 17) for allegedly running a money-laundering operation for certain gambling websites and call centre gangs.
The couple was arrested at a luxury house inside a housing estate on Ratchapruek Road in Nonthaburi. The names of the two suspects have not yet been released.
The arrest by officers from the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau came after police searched seven houses in Bangkok and adjacent provinces, including the one where the couple was arrested in Nonthaburi.
At the Nonthaburi house, police seized 4 million baht (US$117,000) in cash, some expensive Buddha amulets, luxury watches and bags.
The raids were led by assistant national police chief Pol Lt-General Thatchai Pitanilabutr and commissioner of the cybercrime bureau Pol Lt-General Trairong Phiewphan.
Thatchai said police obtained arrest warrants against the couple after investigators found that they had allegedly set up more than 10 firms to serve as fronts to launder money for gambling websites and some call-centre gangs.
He said the latest operation they were running as a front was a seafood restaurant and prawn-fishing pond in Bangkok’s Lat Phrao area.
Thatchai said police are still checking transactions the couple made with other firms and will make subsequent arrests later.
He added that this case was an example of alleged foreign criminals marrying Thais to run businesses as fronts for criminal activities.
Trairong said police investigators have found evidence showing that the couple had allegedly been laundering money for some gambling websites.
He added that the couple had set up entertainment places in Bangkok’s Ekamai area and Ayutthaya province, as well as the seafood restaurant in Lat Phrao.
Trairong added that police investigators have also learned that the 10 firms set up by the couple do not really carry out any business operations and that their directors were only nominees.
The Thai wife, meanwhile, claimed she knew nothing of her husband’s illegal businesses, adding that he paid her some 100,000 baht a month to open bank accounts and take care of his companies. - The Nation/ANN
