Thai Police Detain Japanese Man Who Allegedly Leads Fraud Group

Bangkok, June 6 (Jiji Press)--Thai police said Saturday that they have detained a 38-year-old Japanese man suspected of leading a special fraud group based in the northwestern Cambodian city of Poipet while living in Thailand.

Japanese police have obtained an arrest warrant for the man. He is expected to be extradited to Japan later this month.

The man is believed to have been involved in fraud cases that caused losses totaling several billion yen.

According to Thai police sources, the man pretended to be a police officer when trying online to defraud target individuals in Japan. He is also believed to have been involved in money laundering and recruiting Japanese members of the fraud group.

The man has left and returned to Thailand 69 times in recent years. There are records showing his entries to Malaysia, China and Vietnam, but not to Cambodia. He may have conspired with the Chinese manager of the fraud group.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]