Chinese Couple Arrested in Thailand for Crypto Fraud and Kidnapping

March 22, 2025 by Ammar Raza

• Thai police have arrested 27-year-old Wu Di for defrauding victims of over $17.7 million through a cryptocurrency scam. During the raid at her rented home in Pattaya, the authorities also found her boyfriend, who is wanted in China for allegedly kidnapping a woman in Cambodia and demanding a $138,000 ransom.
• Investigations revealed that the stolen funds were funneled through four Thai-controlled “puppet accounts” before being converted into cryptocurrency and transferred to a digital wallet in Cambodia registered under Wu Di’s name. 

The police in Thailand arrested a Chinese woman linked to a cryptocurrency scam and later on they discovered that her boyfriend, who was with her at the time, is also a fugitive wanted in China for kidnapping. 

March 19th, the police arrested 27-year-old Wu Di for her role in executing a cryptocurrency scam that defrauded victims of over $17.7 million within two months. 

The arrest happened when the police  raided her rented home in Pattaya, a well known tourist spot, where officers also found her 29-year-old boyfriend, Zhou Zongyon. Zongyon, who is currently wanted in China for allegedly kidnapping a woman in Cambodia, sending her family disturbing photos of her, and demanding a $138,000 ransom. Zhou also admitted to illegally crossing into Thailand from Cambodia.

How the Couple Pulled The Crypto Fraud

The investigations started after a school teacher reported to the police.  Apparently the Thai teacher was tricked by a scammer with an attractive profile picture on Facebook who happened to be Wu Di. 

The scammer convinced the teacher to invest in a fake Singapore dollar fund. At first, she received small profits and was able to withdraw some money. However, when she tried to invest more money, but as soon as she invested, she could no longer access her funds. Realizing she had been deceived, she contacted the police. In total, she lost around $44,311.

During the course of the Investigation, it was discovered that the stolen money was first sent to four different bank accounts controlled by Thai citizens. According to the report, the “puppet accounts” held the funds before converting them into cryptocurrency. 

The crypto tokens were then transferred to a wallet in Cambodia, which was registered in Wu Di’s name. Further investigations showed that her account was connected to at least 63 fraud cases, with total reported losses reaching $18,256,746.

During the raid, the police found some evidence on Wu’s phone, including pictures of her extravagant lifestyle, large sums of cash, and suspected drugs. The pictures also showed that she frequently traveled between Thailand, Cambodia, and Malaysia.

 Wu denied all accusations and claimed that her ex-boyfriend had created the account to hide money for a criminal group. However, authorities were not convinced and so they  continued their investigation.

Meanwhile, all four individuals who managed the puppet accounts were also arrested alongside Wu, with three currently facing charges. At the same time, Zhou Zongyon, the suspected kidnapper and boyfriend, was also taken into custody for his possible role in laundering money for scam call centers.

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