A Portuguese fugitive, wanted in several European and Asian countries, including Thailand, for allegedly orchestrating cryptocurrency and credit card fraud worth about 19 billion baht, was arrested by Thai police at a luxury shopping mall in Bangkok on Thursday.
Thanks to a tipoff from a Portuguese journalist on vacation in Thailand, who recognised the 39-year-old fugitive Carlos Laposo, Thai immigration police managed to confirm the Portuguese man’s identity, using facial recognition technology and a biometric database.
Plain-clothed immigration officers were immediately sent to the mall to search for the fugitive. After about five hours, they found a Caucasian man who matched Laposo’s description while he was making a phone call. The officers approached him and asked to see his passport, which showed that his visa had expired two years ago. He was then arrested for overstaying his visa and was escorted to the Immigration Bureau for further questioning.
According to immigration police, Laposo arrived in Thailand in 2023 on a tourist visa. Then, he began operating a Bitcoin investment scam, cheating victims out of over one million baht. An arrest warrant was issued, but he reportedly fled to southern Thailand and vanished without a trace.
Portuguese police have not yet sought Laposo’s extradition.
