The cooperation between Thailand and China led to the extradition of Zhang Yu-fa, a Malaysian businessman suspected of a crypto fraud amounting to more than 100 billion yuan. The extradition marks an important legal and diplomatic achievement, and emphasizes the need for global cooperation in the fight against economic crime.
The businessman, Zhang Yu-fa, known also as Teddy Teo, is suspected of defrauding clients of amounts exceeding 100 billion yuan. He convinced millions of investors, many of them Chinese citizens, to invest in an illegal and unknown cryptocurrency. An investigation launched by police in Chongqing in China in 2020 revealed the massive scale of fraud, leading to a formal request from China to Thailand to extradite Zhang to trial.
Theo, who fled Malaysia and was captured in Thailand in July 2022, faced two extradition warrants — one from China and the other from Malaysia, where he is also wanted for fraud. Thailand chose to comply with China’s request, and the decision was finally approved by the Thai court in May 2024, leading to Theo’s extradition to China.
Zhang’s extradition is considered a significant legal and diplomatic achievement, and is an example of effective international cooperation in the fight against cybercrime and crypto fraud, and marks a new stage in strengthening ties between Thailand and China in the field of law enforcement and emphasizes the need for global cooperation against sophisticated economic crime.
