A 52-year-old Thai woman, Orathai (surname withheld), was arrested at Hat Yai International Airport for allegedly assisting a Nigerian romance scam syndicate and laundering money related to a massive 6.223 billion baht fraud case.
Orathai was apprehended at 3:25 PM on Saturday, February 1, 2025, by immigration officers upon her return from Malaysia. She had been on the run since May 7, 2020, when an arrest warrant was issued for her involvement in a transnational criminal network, money laundering, and supporting an illicit operation.
Authorities traced Orathai to Malaysia, where she had been working, and monitored her movements until her arrest upon re-entry to Thailand. She told police she had returned to visit her children.
Investigators revealed that Orathai’s bank accounts were used to receive the 6.223 billion baht embezzled by a romance scam victim, identified as Chamanan (surname withheld), a former financial manager. Chamanan had been deceived by a gang member posing as an American soldier in Afghanistan, who manipulated her into embezzling funds from her company’s account and transferring the money to Orathai’s accounts.
Orathai claimed she was unaware of the scam and insisted she had been deceived. She explained that she met a Nigerian man in 2017 while working at a massage shop in Malaysia, who convinced her to open bank accounts for his alleged financial business, offering her 6,500 baht per account. She alleged that he had full control over the accounts and their transactions.
Police are continuing their investigation to uncover further links to the transnational scam operation.
