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20 foreigners arrested for running boiler room scam

BANGKOK, April 8 -- Twenty foreigners were arrested at their Bangkok office for running a 'boiler room' scam in a joint operation involving the Thai police and international law enforcement agencies -- Australian and Canadian police in conjunction with the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Thailand's Tourist Police Division Commander Pol Maj Gen Adis Ngamjitsuksri led the international law enforcement agencies to search an office on the 18th floor of the Amarin Tower on Ploenchit Road after receiving complaints from a large number of investors, especially Australians, who had been solicited by telephone salespersons based at a so-called "call centre" in Thailand to buy shares in overseas markets, particularly in Thailand and Hong Kong. They were also persuaded to invest in the gold futures market in Asian markets.

Thai police investigated and tracked down the telephone lines used by the suspects and located their office.

After the raid, 20 foreigners including Americans, Australians, Britons, Canadians, and Filipinos now working in the scam were arrested. The police found scripts for telephone conversations to use to persuade the victims, along with more than 20 mobile phones and fixed-line office telephones.

Moreover, lists of victims and their telephone numbers were found, mostly New Zealanders and Australians.

Initial investigation found that the office was rented on January 20 without obtaining permission to establish a company in Thailand.

It is believed that the operation had defrauded victims of more than Bt100 million.

The top executive in the operation was identified as Simon James, a Briton. He will initially be charged with working in Thailand without a work permit. The Thai authorities will coordinate with Interpol to check the background of all suspects and also the names on the list found to determine whether they were victims of the syndicate or not. (MCOT online news)