BANGKOK, Dec 19 — Thai police believe they have cracked down on a major scam syndicate that laundered over 5 billion baht (100 baht = RM13.02) through fraudulent transactions, following the arrests of a Malaysian ringleader and his Thai wife.

The Commander of the Economic Crime Suppression Division (ECD) under the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), Pol. Maj. Gen. Puttidej Bunkrapue, said that the two are key suspects involved in a large-scale money-laundering scheme.

He said the 38-year-old Malaysian man, wanted under a warrant issued by the Criminal Court, was detained at the Sadao Immigration Checkpoint in Songkhla province as he entered Thailand on December 16, and his Thai wife, also implicated in the scheme, was arrested at a different location on December 18.

"Both suspects face charges of collusion in money laundering,” Puttidej said in a statement on Thursday.

Puttidej stated that both suspects admitted during interrogation to recruiting individuals to set up legal entities, primarily to open bank accounts, which were later sold to clients in several Asean countries.

Meanwhile, Pol. Col. Theeraphas Yungyuen, who is leading the investigation, said the operation was a highly organised network involving both Thai and foreign nationals.

"The syndicate laundered more than 5 billion baht through complex layers of fraudulent transactions,” he said, adding that over 50 arrest warrants had been issued to individuals linked to the case over the past few months.

"The arrested suspects were ringleaders in a sophisticated scheme. They allegedly orchestrated the laundering process by moving funds through multiple bank accounts before converting the money into USDT cryptocurrency. The use of digital assets significantly complicated efforts to trace the funds,” he added.

Theeraphas said the arrests followed complaints from numerous victims who were duped into investing through fake mobile applications, including "Nicshare” and "ComonApps”, where these apps falsely promised high returns from stock market investments.

He added that the CIB had launched "Operation Ghost Company” and uncovered more than 200 shell companies across Thailand, with many of these entities non-operational but were used to open mule bank accounts that facilitated money laundering.

"The CIB is determined to track down the remaining members of this criminal network and ensure that those responsible for creating shell companies and facilitating money laundering are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he said. — Bernama