Picture courtesy of Khaosod.

 

A Chinese national alleged to be a member of a notorious call centre scam gang was arrested in Pattaya, as he was withdrawing nearly one million baht from an ATM machine.

 

On 11 June, Pol. Col. Anek Srathongyu, Superintendent of Pattaya City Police Station, led a joint operation involving the Chonburi Provincial Investigation Unit and the Cross-Border Crime Suppression Task Force. The operation executed an arrest warrant issued by Pattaya Provincial Court against Mr Zhu Jiagen, 29, a Chinese citizen.

 

Mr Zhu faces multiple charges, including membership of a secret society (known locally as “ang yi”), conspiracy to defraud the public, inputting false data into a computer system with intent to deceive, conspiracy to commit money laundering and direct involvement in money laundering activities.

 

Police apprehended the suspect outside a convenience store near Bang Lamung Temple, located in Bang Lamung District, Chonburi Province. At the time of arrest, Mr Zhu was in possession of 951,000 baht in cash, all in 1,000 baht notes, as well as bank withdrawals slips and a white Nissan Teana registered in Bangkok.

 

The arrest followed an extensive surveillance operation. Investigators had tracked Mr Zhu to the area after receiving intelligence that he had taken refuge near the temple. Officers lay in wait and moved in as he was withdrawing money from an ATM machine.

 

Mr Zhu is believed to be a key player in an international scam network responsible for defrauding Thai citizens through sophisticated phone-based deception schemes. Authorities are now conducting further investigations and interrogations as part of their crackdown on cross-border organised crime.

 

The suspect is currently in police custody pending legal proceedings.

 

 

  Adapted by Asean Now from Khaodod 2025-06-12

 

 

 

So he was in a Triad. Just like Chuwit warned.

Didn't think you could get anywhere near that amount from an ATM machine!

16 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Didn't think you could get anywhere near that amount from an ATM machine!

So do you think the police are lying, or the fact is that a scam gang probably had multiple accounts and cards.

1 hour ago, jacko45k said:

Didn't think you could get anywhere near that amount from an ATM machine!

20,000 max per withdrawal so would take quite a long time to withdraw a million - even assuming that there was that much in there in the first place.  Do ATMs actually hold that much anyway?  How long does it take to make 50 withdrawals?  Something doesn't sound right here.

15 minutes ago, doctormann said:

20,000 max per withdrawal so would take quite a long time to withdraw a million - even assuming that there was that much in there in the first place.  Do ATMs actually hold that much anyway?  How long does it take to make 50 withdrawals?  Something doesn't sound right here.

Many ATM,s are 30,000 max per withdrawal. ATM,s generally hold around 4 million, when they are full. 

1 hour ago, Georgealbert said:

So do you think the police are lying, or the fact is that a scam gang probably had multiple accounts and cards.

 

 I certainly wouldn't bet the farm on the honesty of the cops.

1 hour ago, Georgealbert said:

So do you think the police are lying, or the fact is that a scam gang probably had multiple accounts and cards.

Did I say that?

It is possible the details in the report are incomplete. The possibility of using multiple cards or accounts was not mentioned. Plus I see only a single person and not a gang!  It would take about 40 transactions. 

From the story it is possible that he had withdrawn the money from the Banks or ATM's previously, they were laying in wait near where he was staying and caught him as he was using an ATM - this might have been just a few baht before going to 7/11, not the million mentioned in the story.

22 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

Police apprehended the suspect outside a convenience store near Bang Lamung Temple, located in Bang Lamung District, Chonburi Province. At the time of arrest, Mr Zhu was in possession of 951,000 baht in cash, all in 1,000 baht notes, as well as bank withdrawals slips and a white Nissan Teana registered in Bangkok.

 

The arrest followed an extensive surveillance operation. Investigators had tracked Mr Zhu to the area after receiving intelligence that he had taken refuge near the temple. Officers lay in wait and moved in as he was withdrawing money from an ATM machine.

 

According to Bangkok Bank, the maximum daily withdrawal limit for a foreigner from an ATM is 50,000 BHT.

Unlimited in branch.

UPDATE

International Call Centre Busted in Pattaya, Car & Cash Seized in Cybercrime Raid

 

 

On 6/13/2025 at 9:13 AM, Liquorice said:

According to Bangkok Bank, the maximum daily withdrawal limit for a foreigner from an ATM is 50,000 BHT.

Unlimited in branch.

Well, unlimited so long as the bank has the cash 🙂  I once tried to withdraw 3 million baht, but the bank didn't have enough cash to give me that amount!