3 Cambodians and 1 Burmese held in mule account scam

2026-02-15 - 09:06

BANGKOK — 15 February 2026, Thai cybercrime police have arrested four foreign nationals accused of operating mule bank accounts, withdrawing cash and sending it across the border, in a case linked to an online scam that cost a victim more than 800,000 baht (£18,000). The arrests were ordered by Pol. Maj. Gen. Chananat Sarathwanpaet, commander of the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau, who instructed officers from Division 3 to carry out the operation. Three Cambodian nationals, Sophorn, 36, Bannarit, 23, and Soran, 37, were arrested in Bang Pu Mai subdistrict of Samut Prakan province. A fourth suspect, Tat, 29, a Myanmar national, was detained in Bang Phli Yai subdistrict of the same province. They face charges including membership of a criminal association, public fraud by impersonation, entering false information into a computer system and money laundering. Police said the case began after a victim reported being duped into buying a mobile phone via Facebook. After transferring payment, the victim did not receive the product. The victim was later contacted by a suspect posing as an officer from Thailand’s Central Investigation Bureau, claiming he could help recover the lost funds and asking the victim to continue the conversation via the Line messaging app. The scammer then persuaded the victim to invest in stock trading, promising profits and the recovery of the earlier losses. The victim transferred increasing sums of money, resulting in total losses exceeding 800,000 baht. An investigation found that the funds were channelled through mule bank accounts before being withdrawn in cash at banks in Samut Prakan. Officers obtained search warrants and targeted four suspects believed to own the mule accounts and to have withdrawn the cash. Seized items included mobile phones, ATM cards, bank books linked to mule accounts, clothing worn on the day of the alleged offences and more than 300,000 baht (£6,700) in cash. Sophorn allegedly confessed to owning a mule account and withdrawing funds, receiving a 20% share of the withdrawn sums. Bannarit admitted acting as a coordinator between the ringleaders and those withdrawing the money, and to packaging the cash in boxes for delivery to the Thai-Cambodian border. Soran and Tat allegedly admitted owning mule accounts and withdrawing cash in return for payments of 500 baht per transaction. All four suspects were handed over to investigators for legal proceedings, while police said they were expanding the investigation to identify other members of the network.