Chinese 'pyramid scheme boss' arrested in Thailand over massive investment scam
A Chinese pyramid scheme boss was arrested in Thailand over a massive investment scam.
Ju Zhixiang, 36, allegedly siphoned 3.71 billion USDT in a pyramid scheme disguised as a fake investment platform.
He was said to have developed and operated the ACE online website, which defrauded 469,767 registered members, before fleeing to Thailand with the money.
He then set up a shell company to bypass foreign business ownership laws.
Police raided his house near Bangkok on June 19, in a crackdown on nominee companies in the country.
The Crime Suppression Division said such companies allowed foreigners to skirt local laws through Thai nominees, who hold shares on their behalf. Some of these entities allegedly held assets, including expensive houses in luxury housing estates.
After obtaining a search warrant, officers detained Ju, who was identified as the director of a Thai company.
Officers seized passports and IDs, including some from Vanuatu, Paraguay, Myanmar, Grenada, and China, as well as a Cambodian work permit.
They also confiscated cash, a laptop, two Apple iPhones, car registration and sale documents, two gold bars weighing 10 baht each, a Thailand Elite Visa card, and a Kasikornbank Visa debit card.
Police found that Ju's permission to remain in Thailand had been revoked after the Chinese Embassy alerted Thai authorities that he was subject to an arrest warrant in China.
He was accused of 'organising and leading a pyramid scheme, an offence involving the establishment of a fraudulent multi-level marketing network designed to induce the public to invest or recruit members in successive tiers for unlawful profit'.
He was also charged locally with overstaying.
The pyramid scheme boss allegedly admitted to the overstaying charge. He was handed over to the Bang Kaew Police Station pending deportation.
