Pattaya-area police smash huge Chinese online loan shark scam

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Police arrested Chinese nationals Lang Zhu and Song Song Zhu for loan sharking.
Police arrested Chinese nationals Lang Zhu and Song Song Zhu for loan sharking.

Regional police arrested two Chinese nationals in a raid on an illegal online loan shark with more than 100 million baht in cash flow.

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Lang Zhu, 29, and Song Song Zhu, 28, were taken into custody outside the Riviera Hotel on Wong Amat Beach in Naklua June 22.

A search of a Central Road commercial building they allegedly used as an office found 10 Thais working on collecting money from online users.
A search of a Central Road commercial building they allegedly used as an office found 10 Thais working on collecting money from online users.

A search of a Central Road commercial building they allegedly used as an office found 10 Thais working on collecting money from online users. Evidence collected showed the ring had cash deposits of about 22 million baht.



After interrogating suspects, police were able to raid a debt-collection company on Soi Chokchai 4 with six more people trying to extract money from users at huge interest rates.

Cybercrime police chief Pol. Col. Padol Jandon said the Chinese gang had created an app called True Cash Pro – similar looking to a legitimate True Money app – and had users fork over a substantial amount of personal information to register. Users then were offered loans with interest rates of 22-28 percent.

When payments were missed, debt collectors were brought in, using threats of violence to extract the principle and interest.