Bangkok: A 19-year-old daughter, in collusion with her Chinese boyfriend, orchestrated a plan to extort half a million baht from her father through a fake kidnapping scheme.

According to Thai News Agency, Thai police received a request from the People's Republic of China after the father of 19-year-old Miss Tong lodged a complaint with Chinese authorities on March 31, 2016. He reported receiving a ransom demand accompanied by a video showing his daughter being tortured in Cambodia and allegedly abducted to Myanmar. In a bid to secure her release, he transferred over 110,000 yuan (approximately 550,000 baht) to the scammers but failed to get his daughter back.

Subsequent investigations by the arresting police team uncovered that the ransom video was actually filmed in the Huai Khwang area of Bangkok. The video, purportedly showing torture, was part of a concocted story to defraud her family. Further inquiry revealed that the group of Chinese nationals involved had stayed at a hotel in the area before relocating to a village in Samut Prakan province. Police, armed with a search warrant, found six Chinese nationals at the targeted residence, including Miss Tong and Mr. You, both featured in the ransom video.

Miss Tong and Mr. You, who is accused of being the mastermind behind the scam and also her boyfriend, were among four individuals without identification documents or passports. The authorities believe they staged the kidnapping to extract money from her father. Reporters noted that Mr. You video-called Miss Tong while he controlled her and sent the footage to her father, furthering the extortion scheme.

The four suspects have been taken to Bang Kaeo Police Station for further legal proceedings. Initially, they confessed to illegally entering Thailand.