800 Chinese arrested in Mongolia cybercrime probe

800 Chinese arrested in Mongolia cybercrime probe. Image: Thinkstock

DHARAMSALA, 31 Oct: Mongolian price have arrested 800 Chinese citizens and confiscated hundreds of computers and mobile phone SIM cards while investigating a cybercrime ring, the Reuters reported citing local security authorities.

The arrests of the staggering 800 Chinese resulted after the police in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital raided four locations on Tuesday following a two month’s investigation, the report said citing Gerel Dorjpalam, the head of the General Intelligence Agency of Mongolia as saying at a media briefing on Wednesday.

The head of the General Intelligence Agency of Mongolia though shied away from disclosing the details of the offences of the arrested Chinese, he announced that they were involved in illegal gambling, fraud, computer hacking, identity theft and money laundering.

“As of this moment we suspect they are linked to money laundering. We are looking into the matter,” he was quoted as saying in the report.

The reported noted that all of the 800 Chinese citizens in detention have entered Mongolia on 30-day tourist visas and that the Chinese Embassy in Ulaanbaatar would cooperate with the Mongolian police.

“The police department of Mongolia has taken the necessary measures in this case and is currently in the process of investigating,” read the statement issued by the Chinese Embassy in Ulaanbaatar. 

“China and Mongolia will have open law enforcement and security cooperation, and the two parties will be working closely together on this matter,” it added.

Off the 480,000 foreign tourists that visited the landlocked north Asian country in the first three quarters of this year, Chinese citizens account for nearly a third of the total.

The development came a month after the Philippines arrested 324 undocumented Chinese citizens for charges involving running illegal online gaming activities and engaging in cyberfraud.

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