Two years ago, the 'Fake Father' case involving Chen Yinlai began with victims scammed out of a few thousand baht. SEE TRUE news team traces clues from a scammer gang to a nationality fraud network, where Thai men were hired to acknowledge children, leading to the discovery of over 62 irregular birth registrations linked to a Chinese network operating similarly.
The SEE TRUE investigative team revisits the start of the 'Fake Father' case, which arose in 2023 as an online scam involving only a few thousand baht lost. However, the reporting police pursued the case diligently, ultimately arresting the scammer gang. This breakthrough led to uncovering the 'Fake Father' network that hired Thai men to be legal fathers and fraudulently register Chinese children.
On 9 July 2026, police launched Operation 'Shedding Dragon Scales,' executing 35 warrants to arrest the 'Fake Father' network. The suspects included Thonburi district officials, staff from a private hospital in Thonburi, Chinese men and women, and Thai men hired to act as fake fathers.
The network's modus operandi started with Chinese parents hiring Thai men to acknowledge their children. Ms. Sunee, an employee at a private hospital, offered a childbirth package costing 92,000 baht—72,000 baht for delivery and 20,000 baht to process Thai nationality for the child.
The private hospital staff collected documents and submitted birth registrations at Thonburi district office, where registrar Ms. Siriporn recorded the births in the civil registry. This process enabled children of Chinese parents to gain Thai nationality through fake Thai fathers who acknowledged them.
Investigations found 62 children registered via this method, involving 17 Chinese mothers, 5 Chinese fathers, and 18 Thai fake fathers.
The investigation into the 'Fake Father' case, revealing illegal child acknowledgments that granted Thai nationality to Chinese children from birth, began by chance during a 2023 crackdown on a scammer gang.
Police Colonel Nithi Trisuwan, acting commander of Division 2, Technology Crime Suppression Police, Central Investigation Bureau, explained the case's origin: In August 2023, a female victim was scammed into paying a few thousand baht for goods she never received. Searching online to report the scam, she encountered a fake Central Investigation Bureau website. Contacting them, she was deceived by impostors posing as admins, lawyers, and police IT officers.
"The criminals tricked the victim saying the lost money was laundered through a gambling website, then sent her a link to register there. They created a Line group claiming to help recover losses, involving victims, fake police, and shills. They promised to hack the gambling site to refund victims, instructing them to register and follow their directions. The victim initially trusted them, transferred money, but ultimately received no refund, prompting her to report the crime."
Colonel Nithi said the victim lost only a few thousand baht, but Police Lieutenant General Jiraphop Puridej, then Central Investigation Bureau chief, viewed the scammers’ fake police website as an insult to Thai police. He assigned Division 2 to investigate and apprehend the gang.
After identifying clear targets, police launched Operation 'Fake CIB,' arresting 10 suspects, including mule accounts, cryptocurrency accounts, and a key suspect named Vandy, a Cambodian programmer managing over 500 scam-related websites.
Further investigation from Vandy led to arrest warrants for Chinese individuals managing finances for the scammer gang. Investigators then uncovered Chen Yinlai, who ran a mobile phone store in Bangkok and managed the scammers’ cryptocurrency wallets via mule accounts.
"Investigations showed Chen Yinlai lived with Chen Paojiao as common-law spouses and had three children, all holding Thai nationality. Thai men had registered as fathers. Deeper inquiry revealed the Thai man named Montri was already married with children during the time he acknowledged Chen Paojiao's children, suggesting the three are biological children of Chen Paojiao and Chen Yinlai."
Colonel Nithi described the first discovery of a fake father: After confirming Chen Yinlai’s management of the scammers’ cryptocurrency wallets, police obtained warrants, executed arrests, and seized 40 million baht in assets. Evidence linked Chen’s wallets to nearly 40 reported fraud cases involving investment scams and impersonations of government and bank officials.
Chen Yinlai admitted the three children were his. He explained that he arranged for a Thai man to marry his wife to secure her visa and to have the Thai man acknowledge their children. After the children were born, he divorced.
"Phone checks showed Chen Yinlai was present in the delivery room when his wife gave birth, confirmed by photos on his phone," Colonel Nithi added.
Colonel Nithi said all evidence was handed to the Anti-Online Fraud Center (ACSC) to proceed with the fake child acknowledgment case, while Chen Yinlai faces charges related to online fraud operations.
What started as an online scam losing only thousands of baht in 2023 has now led to the arrest of the 'Fake Father' network, led by Police Deputy Commissioner General Samran Nualma. So far, 62 children registered through this fraudulent method have been identified, involving 17 Chinese mothers, 5 Chinese fathers, 18 Thai fake fathers, one private hospital employee, and one Thonburi district official. Investigations are ongoing into five other private hospitals suspected of similar nationality fraud, so these numbers are expected to rise.
