Crime Police Arrest Admin of Illegal Loan App Charging 3,197% Rates

[Georgealbert]

 

Picture courtesy of Daily News.

 

Economic Crime Suppression police have arrested the female administrator of an illegal loan application accused of charging victims an annual interest rate of more than 3,000 per cent.

 

Officers detained 44-year-old Wilawan in Saraburi province on 24 August, acting on a warrant issued by the Min Buri Criminal Court. She faces charges of operating an unauthorised personal loan business.

 

The arrest followed a series of complaints filed in late 2024 with the national centre for tackling illegal debt. Borrowers reported being forced to grant the app, called “Money of Happiness”, access to their personal data on mobile phones. In addition to document and processing fees, the app imposed exorbitant “floating interest” rates offered at 8.75 per cent per day, 263 per cent per month or an astonishing 3,197 per cent per year.

 

Victims also said that when they failed to meet repayment deadlines, operators would call and harass them, as well as their relatives, in order to shame them publicly.

 

Investigators found that the loan scheme had generated a cash flow of more than 120 million baht in just one month. The court subsequently issued warrants against members of the network.

 

Police later tracked down Wilawan, who admitted during questioning that she once worked as a social media administrator in Poipet, Cambodia. Her job was to find potential borrowers, earning 5,000 baht per account registered. She said a Chinese “boss”, communicating through a translator, oversaw the operation and required her to conduct facial scans of applicants.

 

Wilawan has been handed over to investigators for legal proceedings, while police continue to pursue other members of the cross-border loan sharking network.

 

 

  Adapted by Asean Now from Daily News 2025-08-26