Macau scam: Taiwanese, M'sian face charges of confining victims

BANGKOK: A notorious Taiwanese gangster and a teenage Malaysian suspected to have headed a now-crippled "Macau Scam" syndicate will be charged under Thailand's harsh Trafficking-In-Person Act and Section 312 of Penal Code for confining and beating up their victims.
The 29-year-old Taiwanese and the 19-year-old Malaysian face long prison terms and hefty fines upon conviction in court.
"Four other Malaysians, four men and a woman suspected to be syndicate members are currently detained by the country's immigration for questioning," Tourist Police Bureau acting deputy chief, Maj Gen Surachet Hakpan told a media conference here today.
"After questioning, the four Malaysians could be deported as well as blacklisted from entering the kingdom in future," he said.
In an operation last Friday following information provided by the Malaysian embassy here, the Thai police raided a condominium in the outskirts of Bangkok and rescued a Malaysian woman who suffered beatings from syndicate members.
The woman who was confined in the condominium against her will, suffered injuries on hands, legs and buttocks after being beaten with an iron rod, allegedly by the Taiwanese man. The woman was later taken to the hospital.
During the raid, the authorities arrested five other Malaysians aged between 22 to 27, while the 19-year-old suspected ringleader from Malacca was detained at the Suvarnabhumi Airport on Saturday, upon arrival from Malaysia.
A man, who was one of the five Malaysians arrested turned out to be a victim of the syndicate.
Surachet said the syndicate did not target Thais and had only preyed on Malaysian and Chinese victims.
"When the syndicate received money from a victim through the scam, they transferred the money into Bitcoin currency," he said.
Meanwhile, a policeman involved in the investigation told Bernama the teenage Malaysian had rented the condominium under his name since August, while the rescued woman had been working for the syndicate since September until mid-October.
The Taiwanese gangster, he said, had demanded for RM300,000 from the woman if she wanted to cease working for the syndicate.
Supt Ridzuan Abdul Aziz, attached to the Malaysian Embassy, who was present during today's press conference praised the Thai police on their prompt action following a report lodged by the embassy. — Bernama