BANGKOK — A Chinese man who allegedly fled his home country after embezzling more than $7 million and later obtained Vanuatu citizenship was arrested in Bangkok after seven years in hiding, Thai immigration police said Tuesday.
Pol Col Pholsit Sutthiaat, chief investigator of Immigration Division 1, said officers began tracking the suspect, identified as Wu, 40, following a tip from residents that a foreign man was living a reclusive life in a luxury home worth tens of millions of baht on Ratchaphruek Road in Thon Buri’s Taling Chan district.
Undercover officers posing as security guards monitored the area for about a week. On November 12, they spotted a white Volvo entering the neighborhood to pick up Wu — the first time he had left his home since surveillance began. Police set up checkpoints nearby and intercepted the car as it returned in the early hours of November 13.
Wu presented a Vanuatu passport showing that his permission to stay in Thailand had expired earlier this year. Officers charged him with overstaying his visa and took him into custody for questioning at the Immigration Bureau.
During questioning, Wu repeatedly insisted he was a Vanuatu citizen, not Chinese. Authorities later confirmed through international law enforcement channels that he was wanted by prosecutors in Chaozhou, Guangdong province, China, on charges of corporate embezzlement.
According to Chinese investigators, Wu served as head of sales for a luxury real estate project in 2018. He allegedly lured 48 homebuyers with “special prices,” directing them to transfer payments to his personal bank account. The losses amounted to more than 50 million yuan (about $7 million).
Wu fled China soon after, reportedly purchasing Vanuatu citizenship to evade capture. Interpol issued a Red Notice for his arrest in 2025, leading Thai authorities to locate and detain him.
Immigration police said they will continue investigating Wu’s assets in Thailand, including the house, a luxury car, and possible associates who may have helped him remain in hiding.
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