A Cox's Bazar court has placed six Chinese and Taiwanese nationals on a three-day remand for their alleged involvement in an international cyber fraud syndicate.
The Senior Judicial Magistrate Court issued the order on Monday scaling back the prosecution's request for a five-day remand. Defense lawyers argued that if the individuals are proven to be legitimate tourists and they should be legally released.
The arrests follow a major police raid on three resorts and a building near Himchhari Beach in Ramu. During the operation, law enforcers seized a massive cache of electronic equipment, including nearly 2,000 iPhones, multiple computers and various items bearing Chinese police badges and logos.
According to case records, a group of 250 to 300 Chinese and Taiwanese nationals entered Bangladesh in March. By April the members of the syndicate rented the resorts using a local alias also falsely claiming they were establishing a construction company. Once inside, they completely took over the properties' security and management. The operation was exposed after intelligence reports flagged the resorts for failing to properly register their foreign tenants.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has taken charge of the investigation preliminarily points to large-scale online financial fraud.
While several members of the ring managed to flee before the raid, law enforcement is currently conducting operations to capture four other Chinese suspects. Following the arrests, a delegation from the Chinese Embassy and the police's Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit visited the site to inspect the evidence.
