Thai immigration and Taiwanese police have apprehended a Taiwanese businessman, who allegedly cheated more than 10,000 investors in a fake pharmaceutical company, which he and his associates founded during the COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan, out of an estimated 23 billion baht.

The suspect, only identified by Taiwanese police as “Huang”, was taken into custody at a condominium in the Pratunam area of Bangkok during a raid yesterday (Friday). A search of his room uncovered one million baht in cash, five mobile phones, a Singaporean ID card and several credit cards.

Thai immigration police said that Huang and his associates set up a pharmaceutical company during the pandemic in Taiwan and then listed the company on the Taiwanese stock exchange. They then set up several shell companies abroad, to engage in the trading of the shares, in order to manipulate the stock price, which skyrocketed to 500 baht per share. Over 10,000 Taiwanese citizens were lured into buying the company’s shares.

Huang and his associates then transferred the investors’ money into the bank accounts they had opened offshore and shut down the pharmaceutical company.

Huang reportedly fled to Singapore and then to Vanuatu, before flying to Bangkok on a Singaporean passport on February 5^th, 2021 and had been hiding in Thailand until his arrest yesterday.

27 other suspects have also been arrested in Taiwan.