Metro police officers arrested six Chinese men today for allegedly bilking residents of Bangkok’s Chinatown of more than THB10 million through sales of fake gold.
Maj. Gen. Teeradet Thamsutee of the Royal Thai Police told reporters the six suspects which preyed on Thai-Chinese gold buyers in the Yaowarat area were gangsters connected to a triad known as Jiangxi Dragon. They are accused of scamming buyers into buying gold, and officers seized nearly 200 pieces weighing about 30 kilograms in total.
Attention was first brought by a Thai-Chinese victim who said the scammers claimed the gold had been dug up north of Bangkok in Ayutthaya province. The unnamed victim said he forked over THB500,000 for some of the non-precious metal. By the time he figured out it was fake, the group had gone dark.
Police said the scammers selected from an official listing of Thai-Chinese residents and would call them from a scam call center located in Indonesia linked to one of the suspects. When they met their would-be victims, they would deceive them by using some real gold to convince them it was all genuine.
The victim said he contacted the authorities after finding that what he bought only contained traces of real gold.
Police arrested two suspects at the Hua Lamphong train station. They then tracked down four others to a luxury hotel room in the Ratchada area. All were Chinese nationals between 44 and 54.
The cops also seized 179 pieces of fake gold as well as a number of bogus idols, eight small pieces of real gold, 46 Chinese Association in Thailand directories, 24 ATM cards, and 12 mobile phones.
Police have charged all six with conspiracy to defraud and establishing a hideout. All six denied any wrongdoing and said they would fight the charges in court.
Gen. Teeradet warned that the Thai-Chinese directory contains names that could be used to find more victims. Referring the surge in violence, kidnappings, and murder perpetuated in Thailand by Chinese criminal elements, Teeradet said people should be wary as meeting with potential scammers could prove fatal. They also believe that more people were involved in the criminal network.
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