Society

Thai police: Scammers took Japanese for $900,000

Apr 03 (NHK) - Police in Thailand say a group of Japanese men who ran a call center scam defrauded people in Japan of more than 900,000 dollars.

Thai police on Friday raided the home they used in the resort city of Pattaya. They arrested 15 Japanese men, ranging in age from 22 to 54, on suspicion of working illegally in the country.

Police found at least 500 names and phone numbers of Japanese, as well as instructions on how to make calls to carry out the scams.

Police revealed the damage estimate at a news conference on Tuesday. They added that three or four others, including a Thai national, may have been involved.

Police also showed the media the 15 men being interrogated. All appeared in orange T-shirts worn by detained suspects. They looked down and didn't respond to reporters' questions.

Thai police plan to have Japanese police join their investigation.

In a separate swindling case, Thai police arrested a 38-year-old Japanese man wanted by Japanese authorities. The man is suspected of defrauding a 75-year-old woman in Nara Prefecture of more than 70,000 dollars in 2013.

Kazuya Hashimoto was arrested in Bangkok on Friday. Local police were tipped off to his whereabouts through the Japanese Embassy in the Thai capital.

He is expected to be sent back to Japan shortly.

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