A loan sharking operation run by Chinese nationals was dismantled in a raid at a luxury pool villa near Pattaya, resulting in the arrest of 26 people. Chon Buri provincial police confirmed the arrests in Bang Lamung district on Saturday, following a tip-off.
Police conducted the raid on August 8 at a high-end housing project valued at 10 million baht (US$309,310). The single-storey home, equipped with a fence and surveillance cameras, housed 26 Chinese nationals, comprising 25 men and one woman, allegedly involved in an illegal credit operation. Initial inquiries revealed many of them entered Thailand on tourist or student visas lacking work permits.
The group allegedly ran an online lending business targeting Chinese nationals outside Thailand, with admissions to police of lending money at a monthly interest rate of 60%.
Confiscated items included two laptops, 52 mobile phones, 77 Chinese-language accounting documents, and 80,300 baht (US$2,485) in cash.
Charges against the suspects include operating a credit business without a licence, engaging in an occupation without permission, and working without work permits. Additionally, two people face charges for overstaying their visas, reported Bangkok Post.
All suspects, along with the seized evidence, were transferred to the Pattaya Police Station for further legal action.
In similar news, police in Pathum Thani province, near Bangkok, raided three mobile phone shops linked to a loan shark gang that provided high-interest loans and took borrowers’ phones as collateral.
The Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) announced the successful crackdown on August 7, targeting three branches of a shop named Nak Leng Mue Tue, translated as phone gangster, in Thanyaburi district, after uncovering that the owner, Jirathiwat, was running the illegal lending scheme.
The primary focus was the gang’s three-storey headquarters, where Jirathiwat, also known as Keng, was arrested along with 10 of his employees.
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