Pattaya: Thai authorities on Friday raided a luxury housing estate in Pattaya, uncovering a network of Thai nominee shareholders used by foreign nationals to illegally purchase residential properties advertised as a "Russian village."
According to Thai News Agency, a joint force of over 200 officers, civil servants, and land officials raided 41 locations across 33 companies in Chonburi province. The operation, valued at 235 million baht ($7 million) in seized assets, targeted properties where Thai nationals were registered as majority shareholders to bypass laws restricting foreign land ownership.
Investigators focused on eight luxury homes in Pattaya linked to two prominent Russian residents. One of the suspects, identified as Igor, told police he had lived in Thailand for 20 years and owned a 49% stake in the company used to buy his home, but admitted he did not know the Thai nationals holding the remaining 51% share.
A second raid targeted six properties linked to another Russian resident, where officers seized real estate advertisements, utility receipts, and tax documents.
Police said the network used Russian-language websites to market the properties as a "Russian village." A wider investigation into several housing projects in Chonburi revealed 495 corporate entities holding 775 homes valued at over 5 billion baht ($149 million), with dozens of companies now under investigation for suspected nominee violations.