A Thai deputy minister resigns after allegations of his links to fraud centers policy

The Thai Deputy Minister of Finance submitted his resignation from the government, following allegations linking him to “electronic fraud centers” based in Cambodia.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul had ordered the deputy minister, named Vorapak Tanyawong, a veteran financial expert who took office only last month, to provide a written explanation this week about the accusations against him.

The resignation came after a media report issued this week raised suspicions about Vorabak’s links to a foreign businessman involved in cross-border fraud networks in Cambodia.

Investigative news publication “Whaling” reported that Vorabak’s wife received $3 million in cryptocurrencies this year through Chinese-Cambodian criminal networks whose activities the minister was charged with investigating within a government commission.

The bulletin also noted that Vorabak was previously an advisor to BEC Bank of Cambodia, a financial institution suspected of being linked to a money laundering network.

For his part, Vorabak denied his involvement in any illegal activities, telling reporters that he resigned to devote himself to defending himself legally.

He added in a press conference, “In order to fight this legal battle, I need time, and I fear that this will affect my main role in the Ministry of Finance.”

Vorabak spent most of his career in the private financial sector before entering politics last year as an advisor to the then Finance Minister, and previously held senior positions at the Thai branches of Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase.

Although corruption is not rare in Thailand, where interests between politics and business frequently overlap, scandals linking Thai officials to the cyber fraud industry – which has witnessed tremendous growth in Southeast Asia in recent years – remain rare.