Thai police arrest 13 foreigners in an alleged $1.2M investment scam targeting Australians

BANGKOK (AP) — Thai police said Tuesday over a dozen foreigners, mostly Australians and British, were arrested for allegedly running an online investment fraud that had duped people out of at least 1.9 million Australian dollars (about $1.2 million).

Police raided Monday a rental house in the province of Samut Prakan, neighboring Bangkok, and arrested 13 people, said Jirabhob Bhuridej, chief of the police’s Central Investigation Bureau, at a press conference in the Thai capital.

Jirabhob said the Australian Federal Police (AFP) informed Thai authorities last year of a scam group led by an Australian and a British, and a joint investigation was launched.

The alleged scammers operated out of Thailand to swindle money from victims in Australia and potentially other English-speaking countries through online advertisements and phone calls to invest in long-term bonds with a promise of high returns, Jirabhob said.

Footage showed the men after being arrested in the rental house that was converted into an office. Papers of alleged scam scripts and workflow were taped to their partitioned desks. There were also whiteboards the police said were used for tracking their progress, and clocks on a wall showing time zones across Australia.

Thai police said they staked out the house for several months and saw the men coming and going at times that coincided with working hours in Australia. They said they confiscated a number of phones, computers and other electronic devices allegedly used for the scam.

AFP senior officer Kristie-Lee Cressy said at the Bangkok press conference that at least 14,000 Australians had fallen victim to this scam.

“The group amassed at least 1.9 million in (Australian dollars) from Australian victims in just the short time it had been operating. Money that we say was stolen from hard-working Australians and not invested as promised,” she said. “Shutting down this scam center is a significant win for the communities of Thailand and Australia.”

Australian authorities believe the two leaders of the group had been running scams for many years and operating in several countries, including Indonesia, where they had escaped arrest before being found in Thailand, Jirabhob said.

The group of men arrested in Thailand on Monday includes six British, five Australians, one Canadian and one South African, officials said. They said the suspects denied all wrongdoing, saying that they believed they were working legally for a legitimate investment company.

Immigration officials said they entered Thailand with different kinds of visas, including for retirement and education.

Jirabhob said they were initially charged with racketeering and working in Thailand without a permit. He said further investigation could lead to more serious charges, including fraud and involvement in a transnational organized crime.

Australian police officer Cressy said Australia suffered an estimated damage of 4.45 billion Australian dollars ($2.9 billion) from online scams in the past four years.

A U.N. report in April said transnational organized crime groups in East and Southeast Asia are spreading their lucrative scam operations across the globe in response to increased crackdowns by authorities.

Clocks with different Australia's time zones are displayed at a rental house where an online investment fraud targeting Australians was allegedly being run in Samut Prakarn, Thailand, Monday, June 16, 2025. (Thailand Central Investigation Bureau via AP)

View of the interior of a rental house where an online investment fraud targeting Australians was allegedly being run in Samut Prakarn, Thailand, Monday, June 16, 2025. (Thailand Central Investigation Bureau via AP)

Thai Police Central Investigation Bureau personnel talk to one of the suspects, left, back to camera, at a rental house where an online investment fraud targeting Australians was allegedly being run in Samut Prakarn, Thailand, Monday, June 16, 2025. (Thailand Central Investigation Bureau via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of nurses in three hospital systems in New York City went on strike Monday after negotiations through the weekend failed to yield breakthroughs in their contract disputes.

The strike was taking place at The Mount Sinai Hospital and two of its satellite campuses, with picket lines forming. The other affected hospitals are NewYork-Presbyterian and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

About 15,000 nurses are involved in the strike, according to New York State Nurses Association.

The strike, which comes during a severe flu season, could potentially force the hospitals to transfer patients, cancel procedures or divert ambulances. It could also put a strain on city hospitals not involved in the contract dispute, as patients avoid the medical centers hit by the strike.

The hospitals involved have been hiring temporary nurses to try and fill the labor gap during the walkout, and said in a statement during negotiations that they would “do whatever is necessary to minimize disruptions.” Montefiore posted a message assuring patients that appointments would be kept.

The work stoppage is occurring at multiple hospitals simultaneously, but each medical center is negotiating with the union independently. Several other hospitals across the city and in its suburbs reached deals in recent days to avert a possible strike.

The nurses’ demands vary by hospital, but the major issues include staffing levels and workplace safety. The union says hospitals have given nurses unmanageable workloads.

Nurses also want better security measures in the workplace, citing incidents like a an incident last week, when a man with a sharp object barricaded himself in a Brooklyn hospital room and was then killed by police.

The union also wants limitations on hospitals’ use of artificial intelligence.

The nonprofit hospitals involved in the negotiations say they’ve been working to improve staffing levels, but say the union’s demands overall are too costly.

Nurses voted to authorize the strike last month.

Both New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani had expressed concern about the possibility of the strike. As the strike deadline neared, Mamdani urged both sides to keep negotiating and reach a deal that “both honors our nurses and keeps our hospitals open.”

“Our nurses kept this city alive through its hardest moments. Their value is not negotiable,” Mamdani said.

The last major nursing strike in the city was only three years ago, in 2023. That work stoppage, at Mount Sinai and Montefiore, was short, lasting three days. It resulted in a deal raising pay 19% over three years at those hospitals.

It also led to promised staffing improvements, though the union and hospitals now disagree about how much progress has been made, or whether the hospitals are retreating from staffing guarantees.

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

FILE - A medical worker transports a patient at Mount Sinai Hospital, April 1, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)