6,000 Alipay, WeChat Accounts Tied to Nearly THB1B ($30M) Gambling Network
Police disclosed the case on September 19 after detaining a 31-year-old Chinese national identified as Yu in Chon Buri. He is wanted in China over alleged illegal gambling and money-laundering activity.
Investigators linked nearly THB1 billion ($30.1 million at the Bank of Thailand’s September 18 reference rate) in funds to the network over an unspecified period, according to the Bangkok Post report citing Thailand’s Central Investigation Bureau.
6,000 Accounts Fed Gambling Transfers
Investigators said Yu established PAOFENG in 2018 as an intermediary for overseas online gambling websites. The structure included more than 60 lower-level members as well as teams of currency traders. Together, they allegedly controlled over 6,000 Alipay and WeChat accounts.
Player gambling payments were received through those accounts and then moved toward gambling websites. Cryptocurrency was also used to transfer funds and make the payment trail harder to follow.
A September 19 PPTV report based on the CIB statement said nearly THB1 billion ($30.1 million) had circulated in connection with the case over an unspecified period.
The account count gives some indication of the scale of the payment layer. If 6,000 accounts were spread evenly across around 60 lower-level members, that would work out at roughly 100 accounts per member.
Another simple comparison puts the nearly THB1 billion ($30.1 million) case total against more than 6,000 accounts. Using THB1 billion and 6,000 accounts as upper-end normalization points gives no more than about THB166,700 ($5,010) per account across the unspecified period. That is not the reported turnover of an individual account; it is only a normalization of the case-wide figures disclosed by investigators.
Yu Faces Return to China
Thai officers tracked Yu to a residential estate in Huai Yai, Bang Lamung district. Bangkok Post said he was detained outside the property on September 18 after authorities had already revoked his permission to remain in Thailand.
Yu acknowledged during questioning that he was the person named in the Chinese arrest warrant and that he had fled to Thailand, according to police. He has now been transferred to the Immigration Bureau. Thai authorities are preparing to return him to China, where he is expected to face proceedings connected to the gambling case.
The PAOFENG investigation puts payment infrastructure rather than a gambling website at the centre of the case. Investigators are describing a chain that moved player funds through thousands of mainstream payment accounts before using additional transfer channels, including cryptocurrency.