KUALA LUMPUR, July 23 — Malaysian fugitive Teow Wooi Huat has been arrested by Thai police in southern Thailand’s Songkhla province for alleged money laundering in connection with online gambling.
Businessman Teow, or also known as Tedy Teow, is the founder of the MBI Group International.
The Bangkok Post reported that the 55-year-old businessman was arrested at his company’s Thai headquarters in Dannok, near the border checkpoint in Sadao district early yesterday morning by a team led by the country’s national police assistant chief Pol Lt-General Surachate Hakparn.
“The arrest came after investigators reviewed evidence from crackdowns on online gambling dens in Songkhla, Nakhon Si Thammarat and other southern provinces and found links to Teow,” he said in the report that was published online last night.
It was learnt that an investigation led by Surachate had discovered their links to Teow, who was found to be the major financier of the online gambling dens.
The report said Teow, under the MBI Group, operates an entertainment complex, including a resort, on a 100-rai (16 hectares) site at Dannok.
In 2017, Teow was arrested for dealing with illicit drugs but later fled to Songkhla in Thailand.
In 2018, Malaysian authorities charged Teow with financial crimes where his assets were seized in connection to a pyramid scheme that he operated. He fled from Malaysia and entered Thailand last year.
MBI Group International made headlines in October 2019 when scores of Chinese nationals rallied outside the embassy in Kuala Lumpur, claiming they had lost their life savings to the company.
The victims alleged that they were cheated by an online pyramid scheme operated by MBI Group International.
In addition to that, Teow was also wanted by authorities in connection with a RM336 million money-laundering scam in Macau.
In the past, Penang-born Teow was known to be linked to wealthy and popular personalities.
