Suspected fraud network scatters after Cox’s Bazar raid

A suspected online financial fraud network has scattered across Cox’s Bazar and possibly elsewhere in Bangladesh after police arrested six alleged members at two hotels.

Police raided Hotel Falcon and Hotel Sea Palace in the town’s Kolatoli area on Thursday night, detaining Taiwanese national Wei Ching Wen and Chinese nationals Xu Yangfan, Yan Changsheng, Xu Hajyang, Wu Jianxiong and Zhang Zheming. Officers seized six mobile phones, five passports and three identity cards. A court later sent the six to jail.

The case alleges that the group lured victims with false investment offers and used cloned or fake trading platforms to take their money. Police also named four people as absconding: Zhan Yuan Fan, also known as Babar Ali, Pai Leding, Wu Zhiping and Jian Zhang. The case identifies another 250 to 300 Chinese and Taiwanese nationals as suspected members of the network.

Ramu Police Station officer-in-charge AK Fazlul Haque said the group had moved after the operation. “Some may have moved to different hotels in Cox’s Bazar, others possibly to different parts of Bangladesh,” he said, adding that efforts to trace them were continuing.

According to the case statement, the group had stayed at Marina Beach Villa Resort in Himchhari and at Dream Holiday Resort and Orchid Blue Resort in Ukhiya’s Inani area. At Marina Beach Villa, it allegedly established a computer lab and six soundproof rooms. During an August 25 raid, suspects fled through the beach, while police seized 1,938 iPhones, 50 monitors, 44 CPUs, 30 keyboards, two laptops, two printers, 40 mice, an IPS unit and 24 connection boards. Police also recovered Chinese police badges, a tie bearing a police logo and a Chinese flag.

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Some may have moved to different hotels in Cox’s Bazar, others possibly to different parts of Bangladesh.