Four Taiwanese have been sentenced to 16 years and six months behind bars in Thailand for telecom fraud, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Thailand said yesterday.
On Sept. 22 last year, Thai police arrested three Taiwanese women suspected of involvement in telecom fraud in Nakhon Ratchasima Province.
The three, surnamed Chang (張), Yang (楊) and Yu (游), had entered Thailand on tourist visas.
The authorities found a total of 34 ATM cards, 20 bank passbooks and 20 mobile phones in their possession, and later arrested another Taiwanese, surnamed Chi (錡).
The four were prosecuted for organized crime, cross-border fraud and money laundering.
Before the Lunar New Year, office representatives visited the detained Taiwanese nationals and found out they had been sentenced by a provincial court to 16 years and six months in prison.
They are also awaiting sentencing for related charges in Chiang Rai and Phitsanulok provinces.
Other Taiwanese that have been sentenced in Thailand include two who were arrested at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport on suspicion of trying to smuggle 12kg of amphetamines to New Zealand in 2015.
The two men, surnamed Huang (黃) and Liao (廖), have been sentenced to life imprisonment.
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