Police Agency Forces Repatriation of 8 Members of Thai Investment Chatroom Scam Group

The National Police Agency announced on the 30th that it has forcibly repatriated eight Korean members of an organized group who committed investment leading room fraud crimes in Bangkok, Thailand.

The International Cooperation Officer of the National Police Agency is briefing on the Korea-Thailand joint crackdown and extradition.
[Photo by Im Chunhan]

The suspects set up an office in Bangkok, Thailand, for their crimes and created a fake securities trading website. They then deceived various unspecified individuals by promising profits from investments in public offerings and other schemes, embezzling money under the pretext of investment funds.

A police cooperation officer belonging to the National Police Agency, who was dispatched to Thailand, first obtained intelligence and shared it with the Thai Immigration Bureau of the Royal Thai Police. While tracking the whereabouts of the suspects, a joint arrest operation was launched in August, resulting in the arrest of all suspects.

The National Police Agency, in consultation with the National Investigation Headquarters, designated a dedicated investigation team and began the investigation. The team selected and contacted individuals presumed to have been victimized domestically to secure victim statements. They focused on proving the charges through in-depth analysis of evidence such as USB drives and hard disks sent from the local authorities.

A National Police Agency official stated, “This is a case where Korean and Thai police were able to prevent further crimes that could have led to significant damage by closely cooperating to arrest and repatriate the suspects early in the crime.” He added, “We will continue to collaborate with overseas law enforcement agencies to pursue suspects to the end and ensure that they are arrested and punished regardless of where the crimes are committed.”