Thai police arrest Chinese man over alleged laundering network

Thai immigration police arrested a 37-year-old Chinese man identified only as Wu in Bangkok on October 16, accusing him of helping a money-laundering network that investigators say handled more than 500 million yuan in transactions. The allegations have not been established in court, and the reported charge in Thailand concerns his immigration status. Police said Wu was wanted in China over alleged offenses connected with a loansharking gang. Investigators allege he recruited people to open bank accounts, collected their bank cards and account details, and supplied them to criminal groups. They also accuse him of exchanging cryptocurrency and foreign currency for those groups. The network was linked by police to more than 133 bank accounts. Investigators put its transaction volume above 500 million yuan, a figure that refers to the network’s transactions and was not described as the amount transferred solely in cryptocurrency. Thai officers charged Wu with remaining in the country after his permission to stay expired. Local reports said the overstay lasted approximately three years and eight months. The charge was brought under Section 81 of Thailand’s Immigration Act 1979,...