On March 19, 2025, Thai cyber police launched a raid under the codename “Dragon Slayer Operation”, arresting a Chinese couple at a luxury villa in Pattaya, Chonburi Province. Police had initially targeted 27-year-old female suspect Wu Di for her involvement in a transnational investment fraud case but unexpectedly discovered that her 29-year-old boyfriend, Zhou Zongyong, was an Interpol Red Notice fugitive, further escalating the complexity of the case.
The case originated in April 2024 when a Thai female teacher met an online acquaintance on Facebook who claimed to be an investment expert from a “Singapore Fund”. Lured by promises of high returns, she was guided to download the fake investment platform “M-DAQP”. After an initial small withdrawal of 57,900 baht, she gradually increased her investment to 1.5 million baht, only to have her funds frozen within 16 days, resulting in a loss of more than 1.44 million baht.
Police investigations revealed that the scam syndicate laundered money through cryptocurrency wallets, with transactions under Wu Di’s accounts amounting to 18.4 million USD (approximately 618 million baht) and linked to 63 “pig-butchering” scam cases.
During the police raid, multiple passports used to register cryptocurrency accounts were seized, indicating the suspects frequently traveled between Thailand, Malaysia, and China. Wu Di claimed to be engaged in a “concert ticket e-commerce business”, yet her phone contained daily life photos with luxury cars, large amounts of cash, and evidence of suspected drug use, contradicting her “low-profile businesswoman” persona. In addition, Zhou Zongyong, apart from being involved in a kidnapping case in Cambodia, was also accused of assisting transnational scam syndicates in laundering money, including transferring illicit funds from telephone fraud centers.
Zhou Zongyong’s criminal record is even more shocking. According to investigations, he allegedly kidnapped a Chinese woman in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, sending photos of the abused victim to her family and extorting a ransom of 1 million yuan, threatening to “kill her if payment was refused”. The woman’s whereabouts remain unknown. Chinese police further accused him of involvement in transnational money laundering, highlighting the strong connection between scam syndicates and violent crimes.
This case reflects the rampant trend of “fake investments, real scams” in recent years. Cashback Island reminds investors to watch out for the following features:
