BANGKOK, Thailand – Police have dismantled a major Chinese network that used local nominees to illegally own 33 luxury villas worth over 1.2 billion baht in Bangkok. The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), operating through its Economic Crime Suppression Division (ECD), raided five luxury housing estates in the Phatthanakan and Krungthep Kreetha areas. The crackdown followed tip-offs that Chinese nationals were illegally owning the properties and renting them out to fellow citizens.
Investigators revealed the syndicate utilized 33 shell companies to acquire villas across three housing estates, totaling an estimated value of 1.275 billion baht. The operation was allegedly masterminded by a Chinese national who used his Thai girlfriend—a bakery sales clerk—and her mother—a rubber farmer—as front companies’ nominees. According to police, the Chinese suspects provided all the capital for the corporate registrations and property acquisitions. A local law firm and an accounting company reportedly facilitated the illegal registrations.
To bypass ownership laws, the network would alter the corporate structure of a specific shell company whenever a Chinese client wanted to purchase a villa. The buyers were then appointed as shareholders or directors to grant them de facto ownership. Other properties were managed by a Chinese-backed nominee agency that handled rentals and sales. During the raids, officers seized three land title deeds, 30 signed blank share-transfer agreements, 15 passports of various nationalities, electronic devices, corporate documents, and approximately 1.4 million baht in cash. Authorities are now tracing the financial trails to expand the investigation. Police plan to press charges against 21 suspects—comprising four Thai nationals and 17 Chinese nationals—for nominee-related offenses under the Foreign Business Act and the Land Code. (TNA)
