Thai Officials Arrested For Kidnapping And Extorting Tether From Chinese National
Four immigration police officers in Thailand are facing arrest after being accused of kidnapping a Chinese man and his female interpreter and extorting 1 million baht (US$29,170) in cryptocurrency from them.
4 Thai immigration officers face arrest for abducting Chinese national, extorting thousands in cryptocurrency. The Chinese man was kidnapped, along with his female interpreter, and forced to cough up nearly US$30,000 in crypto after falling victim to a scam. SCMP…
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) March 22, 2023
Immigration Scam
According to Deputy national police chief Surachate Hakparn, the incident took place on March 10 and came to light after the Thai woman filed a police report, alleging she and the Chinese national were abducted after falling victim to an immigration scam. The man had sought the help of the interpreter to renew his passport and visa at a government office in Bangkok, but officials rejected his application.
The duo eventually went back home where five men bundled them into a car and drove around a neighbourhood in the Thai capital before returning the victims to their residence. The captors also forced the man to transfer 30,000 USDT, the tether stablecoin pegged to the US dollar, to their account through the imToken app.
Safety concerns for Thai Crypto Investors
Surachate stated that the men claimed to be innocent, but further investigation revealed that four immigration police bureau officers were linked to the case. Arrest warrants have been issued against the officers and the Chinese man has fled to his home country.
The case has sparked outrage in Thailand and calls for stricter regulations on cryptocurrency transactions. Thailand has been a popular destination for crypto investors, but this incident has raised concerns about the safety of such investments.
Thailand’s cryptocurrency market has been growing rapidly, with many investors turning to digital currencies as a way to protect their assets from the country’s economic instability. However, incidents like this could deter investors from the market and highlight the need for stronger regulations to protect investors and prevent such criminal activities.
The Thai government has recently introduced new regulations to monitor digital currency transactions and prevent money laundering. However, this incident shows that more needs to be done to ensure the safety of investors and prevent such scams from taking place in the future.
