Japanese Man Busted in 100 Million Baht Rubber Gloves Fraud Case

Police in Bangkok have arrested a 42 year-old Japanese man for allegedly swindling a business operator out of 3 million baht for rubber gloves that were never delivered.

A team of officers from the Immigration Bureau, the Consumer Protection Police Division and Metropolitan Police Sub-Division 6 apprehended Shuichi Ozawa, 42, at the Okura Hotel in the Phloenchit area of Bangkok at 5pm on Saturday.

Mr Ozawa was wanted on an arrest warrant issued by the Pathum Thani Provincial Court in Thanyaburi for colluding in fraud, said police.

The suspect allegedly duped a business operator in Thanyaburi into purchasing rubber gloves from him, said Atchariya Ruangrattanapong, chairman of the Crime Victims Assistance Club, who accompanied police on the raid.

The victim transferred 3 million baht into the Japanese man’s bank account but the gloves never arrived and the man could not be contacted, said Mr Atchariya.

The victim then filed a complaint with police at the Thanyaburi station.

Mr Atchariya said the case was linked to a 100-millon-baht fraud case in Chon Buri, where police and provincial public heath officials raided an illegal factory producing rubber gloves in Bang Lamung district.

That raid followed a search of a warehouse in tambon Huai Yai in Bang Lamung district on June 8 in response to a complaint about illegal rubber glove production.

Wicharnwit Suphan, 26, the caretaker of the warehouse, was arrested at the scene and many boxes of rubber gloves were seized, added Mr Atchariya.