Bangkok (VNA) – A Thai court has sentenced eight people, including four bank employees, for their roles in opening "mule accounts" used by call-centre scam syndicates, which defrauded victims of more than 100 million THB (approximately 3.1 million USD).
The court in Pattaya province found that four employees of a commercial bank in Pattaya, including a branch manager, had facilitated the opening of bank accounts for Chinese nationals entering Thailand on tourist visas. The accounts were later used as mule accounts to receive funds fraudulently obtained by call-centre scam gangs.
The bank employees were each sentenced to 13 years in prison on charges including providing bank accounts for criminal activities, aiding fraud, entering false information into computer systems, money laundering and document forgery.
The remaining defendants included two Chinese nationals who recruited mule account holders, each sentenced to five years in prison; a female broker who arranged mule accounts, sentenced to six years; and an individual who lent a bank account for criminal use, sentenced to one year.
The case stemmed from an investigation launched by Thailand's Region 2 Police in May 2025 after authorities detected suspicious openings of bank accounts for Chinese tourists at a bank branch in Pattaya. Investigators found that the branch had opened more than 100 such accounts, which were subsequently used by call-centre scam networks to receive illicit funds.
Thai police described the case as one of the country's most significant crackdowns on a mule account network involving collusion between foreign suspects and employees of a financial institution. Authorities said the ruling underscored Thailand's determination to intensify the fight against high-tech crime, online fraud, and money laundering./.
