A Thai gang leader has been arrested for using the bank accounts of Myanmar migrant workers for criminal activities, reported The Nation news.

The Thai national, identified as Chitisan, was arrested in Nakhon Pathom province, Thailand, on January 9, the report said.

The Thai national was arrested after months of surveillance after Thai authorities received complaints from 45 Myanmar migrant workers through the Myanmar embassy that their bank accounts were being misused and closed.

According to police, Chitisan lured foreign workers, including Myanmar workers, to open bank accounts and facilitated the registration of SIM cards. The accounts were opened to receive their monthly wages. After the accounts were opened, the gangs took over the accounts and used them for crimes such as online shopping fraud, online gambling and call center fraud, the report said, citing a police statement.

The report said that more than two billion baht of fraudulent accounts were being used without the permission of Myanmar migrant workers, and some Myanmar workers have been prosecuted for crimes they didn’t commit.

Last year, Thai authorities made arrests for using Myanmar workers’ accounts to commit crimes.

Last year, Thai authorities said that the bank accounts seized contained nearly 300 million baht in circulation, and that the seizures were made in Ayutthaya, Naithonburi and Nathon Pathom areas.

The Myanmar embassy has also issued warnings about the misuse of such bank accounts for crimes.

Myanmar workers are facing arrests and being issued warrants as online gamblers and money launderers are using their bank accounts and passbooks of some Myanmar workers in Thailand, according to the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok.

The Embassy reported that the Myanmar workers holding PJ passports opened bank accounts and made bank books at banks arranged by the MoU companies upon their arrival in Thailand. During this process, some Myanmar workers who were unfamiliar with bank procedures had to follow the instructions of some representatives of the MoU company, and some representatives of the company kept the bank accounts and bank books.

The Myanmar Embassy reported that the representatives who kept the bank accounts and bank books of some of these Myanmar workers had received a fee and provided the bank accounts and bank books of the Myanmar workers to online gamblers and those who wanted to launder money.

The Myanmar embassy said it is addressing the cases of summons, arrest warrants and detention in prison by the relevant Thai authorities, and evasions of Myanmar migrant workers due to suspicious cases such as large amounts of money in and out of the bank accounts used and large amounts of money saved.