REPORTS: Chinese Man Arrested In Thailand Faces Charges He Swindled $277 Million In Cross-Border Pyramid Scheme

Reports in Thai media say Song Migui, a Chinese man and purported philanthropist, was arrested in Bangkok and will be transported to Phuket to answer charges he and others swindled 9 billion baht and allegedly operated a cross-border fraud empire.

The sum is the equivalent of about $277 million.

PhuketWan, which says its is a tourism publication, reports that Migui also is known as Zhang Jian and declared himself “the future richest man” prior to his arrest.

Migui attracted attention earlier this year with an asserted gift of 30 million baht ($924,000) to a Buddhist temple, PhuketWan reports.

From PhuketWan (italics added):

At the time of the massive donation, Song Migui said that he was the proud and prosperous owner of an IT software company. Police nabbed him in Bangkok after the Anti-Money Laundering Office became involved in examining his unusual wealth. Song Migui was on a blacklist in China, investigators discovered.

Elsewhere, NationMultimedia.com is reporting that Thai police are seeking to identify victims of the scheme.