NEW DELHI: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Wednesday said it has unearthed “clear links” between Chinese criminal enterprises and scam compounds in South East Asia and beyond, being used for transnational fraud operations that “steal billions of dollars, exploit crypto currency and mercilessly traffic in human beings”.FBI co-deputy director Andrew Bailey shared at a media briefing that the Chinese actors were currently assessed as “financially motivated” since “we have not uncovered evidence that indicates the scam compounds are operated or directed by members of the Chinese govt”.Counting Chinese criminal groups as part of the industrial-scale scam compound “eco-system”, Bailey said they operate through sophisticated transnational networks, moving “people, money, technology and illicit proceeds across Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and beyond”. “The organisations have demonstrated a remarkable ability to exploit weak governance, corruption and emerging technology to scale their criminal activities globally,” he added.FBI is using a strategic, intelligence-driven approach and prioritising investigation of major actors and scam centres in the region to identify the hidden networks that facilitate the scams, like the developers who create apps used to defraud victims and recruiters who recruit scam centre workers under false pretence and lure them into death bondage.Citing examples of Chinese criminal enterprises connected to scam compounds across the globe, Bailey said “Kings Romans and 14K triad have been active in the (South east Asia) region for many years and involved in a wide variety of criminal activities”. He said the FBI has been coordinating with law enforcement agencies across the world to dismantle these transnational, highly-organised criminal networks. “We recently worked with the Dubai police department, Royal Thai police and the Chinese ministry of public security in an investigation that led to the arrest of 276 individuals in the dismantlement of at least 9 different scam centres that they were using for cryptocurrency investment fraud scams”.Besides the cam compounds, Bailey identified nihilistic violent extremism and transnational narcotics trafficking as the two other top threats in South East Asia, with global impact. “As deputy director of FBI, my message for these criminal groups is ‘we know who you are, how you operate and together with our law enforcement allies, we will hunt you down and bring you to justice,” he stated.
