Thai Woman Arrested for Alleged Role in $86M Nigerian-Led Romance Scam

A 52-year-old Thai woman, identified as Orathai, has been arrested at Hat Yai Airport for allegedly assisting a Nigerian syndicate in Thailand’s largest romance scam. Authorities say Orathai helped open bank accounts used to launder funds from a 2022 scam, where fraudsters posing as a U.S. Army doctor on LinkedIn deceived a multinational company’s Thai CFO, stealing $86 million. Orathai, who met her Nigerian partner in Malaysia in 2017, claimed she was unaware of the scam and was paid 6,500 baht per account she opened. Nearly 100 suspects, both Thai and Nigerian nationals, have been implicated, with efforts ongoing to track down others involved.