A joint team of Thai and Philippine police have arrested in Manila 16 Thais and three Taiwanese for operating a phone scam targeting Thai victims.
Pol Maj Gen Surachate Hakparn, deputy commissioner of tourist police, said the suspects were apprehended at a two-storey luxury house surrounded by surveillance cameras in Posadas Village, Alabang area.
There, authorities found computers, mobile phones, SIM cards, bank passbooks, Thai-language scripts used in luring victims and lists of names of senior anti-money laundering and narcotics officials.
The 16 Thai suspects had called victims in Thailand under the supervision of the three Taiwanese. Before the raid, the latest victim in Nonthaburi province had just transferred nearly 2 million baht to the gang, Pol Maj Gen Surachate said.
It was a big phone scam that had victimised Thais for about a year. The stolen money was distributed through electronic-banking networks so accomplices would not have to withdraw through ATMs in Thailand, the deputy commissioner said.
Many Thai suspects claimed they had been lured into working for the gang. Besides, police were examining the profiles of people frequently plying between Thailand and the Philippines to find their accomplices, Pol Maj Gen Surachate said.
He thanked Philippine authorities for cooperation on the raid.
