Pattaya immigration police arrested 13 Chinese nationals on charges of working without a permit in a loan-shark call center aimed at extorting mainland victims.
Officers stormed the rented house in Nongprue’s Moo 6 village Oct. 24 where they found the Chinese living there working on 13 computers and 28 mobile phones to contact compatriots back home via chat applications.
Police said they worked as debt collectors for a mainland loan-sharking ring and brought in about 12 million baht a month from 2,000 victims. If anyone did not transfer cash to their accounts, the call center dispatched gangsters to threaten the borrowers.
