logo
Chinese e-payment firms busted for using Thai nominees

Chinese e-payment firms busted for using Thai nominees

Bangkok Posta day ago
Police have raided five e-money companies owned by Chinese investors using Thai nominees, operating from 10 premises in Bangkok and its outskirts.
Twelve suspects were taken to custody durig the raids on Tuesday, Pol Maj Gen Thatphum Jaruprat, commander of the CIB's Economic Crime Division, said on Wednesday.
Investigators found foreign investors had used Thai nominees to front a business operating online platforms for cashless transactions. The platforms were also found to be used for illegal activities, he said.
Police raided 10 locations in Bangkok, Nonthaburi and Pathum Thani, uncovering five illegal companies, identified as TDAR, BTR Import and Export, OTE, Anan Cargo Express and Your Baobao.
Money generated through their e-systems exceeded 400 million baht.
Police seized equipment and documents from the premises. The investigation was expanding with the aim of arresting the Chinese kingpins, Pol Maj Gen Thatphum said.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Canada hopes to seal Asean trade deal soon
Canada hopes to seal Asean trade deal soon

Bangkok Post

time2 hours ago

  • Bangkok Post

Canada hopes to seal Asean trade deal soon

KUALA LUMPUR - Canada's top diplomat says she aims to finalise a free trade agreement with Southeast Asian nations 'as soon as possible,' as the country looks to expand economic ties in the face of tariffs from President Donald Trump. 'We are diversifying and we are establishing those trade relationships,' Anita Anand, who has been Canada's foreign minister since May, told Bloomberg TV Thursday on the sidelines of an Asean foreign ministers' summit in Kuala Lumpur. 'We are currently negotiating with Asean for a free trade agreement, and we look forward to the conclusion of those negotiations.' Her remarks come as Canada, like many countries, seeks to reduce its reliance on the US market amid rising American protectionism. Although the US, Canada and Mexico have a trade pact signed during Trump's first term, the president has imposed import taxes of 50% on foreign steel and aluminium, along with levies on cars and trucks — all major Canadian exports. 'Those tariffs are hitting us as well, and we believe they're unjustified,' Anand said, adding that 'we're engaged in complex negotiations with the United States to address the tariffs.' To expand trade in Asia, Canada has invested heavily in export infrastructure. The government bought and expanded the Trans Mountain pipeline, its only west coast conduit capable of filling oil tankers for Pacific shipments. Meanwhile, a consortium including Shell Plc, Petronas of Malaysia and PetroChina recently began operations at a major liquefied natural gas facility in British Columbia province. Still, Canada remains heavily dependent on US trade, with about three-quarters of its exports — including most oil, gas and autos — going south of the border last year. Trade frictions with China also persist. Beijing has imposed tariffs on Canadian canola and other agricultural products in response to Canada's levies on Chinese electric vehicles, steel and aluminium. In Southeast Asia, Anand said Canada wants 'to continue to support multilateralism, to continue to show the world that as there is global stress in the geo-strategic environment, Canada is a partner that will always show up to open the doors to trade'.

Huawei probe blunder sparks EU rules change
Huawei probe blunder sparks EU rules change

Bangkok Post

time2 hours ago

  • Bangkok Post

Huawei probe blunder sparks EU rules change

STRASBOURG, France - When European lawmaker Giusi Princi learnt she was sought by Belgian authorities over a graft investigation linked to the Chinese tech giant Huawei in May, she was 'dumbfounded'. It soon turned out she had nothing to do with it — in a mix-up that has undermined confidence in the probe and pushed the European Parliament to review its rules to better shield lawmakers from unfounded accusations. 'To this day I cannot understand how they could have made such a blatant mistake,' Princi told AFP of Belgian prosecutors. The Brussels prosecutor office did not reply to a request for comment. Princi, 52, a member of late Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party, was targeted by a request to lift her parliamentary immunity in mid-May, along with four other lawmakers. Prosecutors alleged she attended a Brussels dinner with Huawei representatives seeking to curry favour among parliamentarians in June last year. But on the day in question the Italian politician was yet to be formally appointed to the 27-nation bloc's assembly following European elections that month. She secured a seat only after another lawmaker renounced his. Also, she was not in Belgium but in her native southern Calabria region, attending her daughter's Alice-in-Wonderland-themed end-of-year school play. No more 'tarnishing' Describing herself as 'stubborn and pig-headed', Princi lawyered up, compiled an 'almost 100-page long' dossier including geo-tagged photos of her daughter in a princess dress, and sent it to prosecutors. Yet, her bid to get exonerated before things became public failed. On May 21 EU parliament president Roberta Metsola named Princi among lawmakers targeted by authorities before a plenary sitting. That was a step required by parliamentary procedure before the case could be passed to the committee on legal affairs, which is tasked to assess immunity waivers. But the rules have since been revised, for, in an embarrassing about-face, prosecutors withdrew the request targeting Princi a day after she was publicly named. 'I will not accept the targeting and tarnishing of MEPs without a solid basis,' Metsola told a press conference in late June, announcing the changes. Her office said that going forward parliament will require requests to lift a lawmaker's immunity to include 'essential elements' such as a clear description of the facts and the crime the accused is alleged to have committed. 'If the requests do not meet the minimum elements, the requesting authority will be asked to complement it' before any announcement is made, Metsola's office said. Although brief, Princi said her involvement in the affair caused her a fair amount of stress during a few 'days of hell' — and dirty looks from colleagues. 'Question marks' The fiasco has fuelled a debate on whether Belgian authorities are best placed to investigate EU corruption. Daniel Freund, a transparency campaigner turned lawmaker for Europe's Greens, is among those who would like the European Public Prosecutor's Office, which already probes the misuse of EU funds, to be tasked with such cases. 'I guess the Belgian taxpayer doesn't have a particular interest to dedicate a lot of resources to making sure that EU institutions are clean. But since EU institutions are located in Belgium, it somehow falls into their remit,' he told AFP. An earlier scandal over alleged bribery involving Qatar and Morocco, which erupted in 2022 when police raids in Brussels uncovered 1.5 million euros in cash at the homes of several lawmakers, is still weighed down in legal challenges with no trial in sight. Were that to collapse, it 'would seriously put into question the role of the Belgian judiciary,' Freund said, adding 'some question marks' also hung over the Huawei probe. The Huawei scandal burst into the public in March when police staged raids in Belgium and Portugal. Investigators suspect Huawei lobbyists of offering gifts, including meals and invitations to football matches to lawmakers who would defend its interests in Brussels. Eight people have been charged on counts including corruption, money laundering and participating in a criminal organisation.

Musk unveils Grok 4 AI after antisemitism flap
Musk unveils Grok 4 AI after antisemitism flap

Bangkok Post

time4 hours ago

  • Bangkok Post

Musk unveils Grok 4 AI after antisemitism flap

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI is rolling out the Grok 4 chatbot, just months after releasing its previous iteration, underscoring the frenetic pace of AI development. The announcement came a day after xAI deleted 'inappropriate' posts on the Musk-owned social media platform X. Users had flagged posts in which Grok praised Adolf Hitler, referred to itself as MechaHitler and made antisemitic comments in response to user queries. 'Since being made aware of the content, xAI has taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X,' the company wrote. Flanked by members of the xAI team and clad in a leather jacket, the billionaire demoed the new and improved bot via a video livestream late Wednesday night. Available immediately, Grok 4 is 'smarter than almost all graduate students, in all disciplines, simultaneously', according to Musk. It includes improved voice conversations and the company touted benchmarks showing the new AI system scoring higher than OpenAI and others. 'At times it may lack common sense, and it has not yet invented new technologies or discovered new physics, but that is just a matter of time,' Musk said. 'We need to make sure that the AI is a good AI,' he said, without acknowledging the offending Grok 3 posts or the controversy they provoked. Earlier on Wednesday, a Turkish government minister also blasted Grok for sharing inappropriate posts, threatening to ban X in the country 'if necessary' unless steps are taken to prevent such content. 'It is unacceptable to use tailored profanity,' Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu told Bloomberg News. A Turkish court blocked access to some content from Grok, after authorities said it generated responses insulting President Erdogan, modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and religious values. Introducing Grok 4, the world's most powerful AI model. Watch the livestream now: — xAI (@xai) July 10, 2025 The Grok 4 unveiling comes at a time of transition for xAI, which merged with X back in March. The new company has combined some engineering resources and other technology in an effort to better develop Grok and distribute it to to the user base. In an unexpected development, X chief executive officer Linda Yaccarino announced her resignation earlier Wednesday just hours before the Grok 4 livestream, creating a leadership hole atop the social network. Musk is also raising significant financing for xAI, which is competing with other major tech giants like Google, OpenAI and Meta to develop state-of-the-art chatbots.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store