A suspected international cyber fraud network led by Chinese and Taiwanese nationals operated from rented resorts in Cox’s Bazar and a seven-storey building in Chattogram, police and intelligence sources said. The group allegedly targeted wealthy individuals and financially well-off women in at least nine countries, using high-tech equipment, artificial intelligence and online investment scams.
Marina Beach Villas Resort in Himchhari, about 12 kilometres from Cox’s Bazar town along Marine Drive, was allegedly the group’s main operational centre in Bangladesh. The resort, located beside the sea and spread over nearly five bighas of land, was rented in its entirety and converted into a computer laboratory, communication hub and soundproof calling facility.
Police Special Branch (SB), Cox’s Bazar district police, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the CID Cyber Police Centre said the network included at least 400 foreign nationals from several countries. The group reportedly arrived in Bangladesh after facing pressure in four other countries.
Investigators said the group targeted affluent people in Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, China, South Korea, the Maldives, Vietnam and India. Senior officials of well-known companies, wealthy businesspeople linked to listed companies and women with financial means were among the alleged targets.
The network allegedly defrauded victims in India and other countries of several million US dollars between February and September, before police identified its operations in September. Police arrested six foreign nationals in Cox’s Bazar and 63 in Chattogram during subsequent operations, while large quantities of electronic equipment were seized.
Sources said several hundred Chinese nationals entered Bangladesh in December 2025 and January 2026, many using visa-on-arrival facilities. Some initially stayed in Uttara, Dhaka, before moving to Cox’s Bazar.
The group rented Dream Holiday Resort and Orchid Blue Hotel in Inani and Sonarpara in Ukhiya, as well as a building named Elias Brothers in Khulshi, Chattogram. The properties were reportedly rented for six months.
Marina Beach Villas Resort was selected as the network’s office. The group allegedly modified the resort’s infrastructure, installed advanced technology and created working space for at least 300 people.
Police and intelligence sources said the group used the resort to target several prominent Indian citizens. Victims in India reportedly informed relevant government authorities, after which Indian cyber investigators traced the alleged fraud operation to Bangladesh and alerted Bangladeshi intelligence agencies.
Bangladesh intelligence officials later learned that between 200 and 250 foreign nationals were staying at four resorts in Cox’s Bazar. The SB began monitoring the activities of Chinese nationals in early March.
Investigators found that the Chinese nationals had entered Bangladesh on employment visas or e-visas. The Department of Immigration and Passports was aware of their arrivals, but the SB Foreign Desk or Foreign Assistance Cell had not been notified, sources said.
Foreign nationals are required to register with the SB within a specified period after arriving in Bangladesh. Hotels and resorts are also required to provide passport and visa copies of foreign guests to the district special branch.
No passport or visa copies of the Chinese and Taiwanese nationals staying at the Cox’s Bazar resorts had been submitted, according to police sources. Resort owners had also not informed the district SB that they had rented their properties to foreign nationals.
As suspicions grew, the SB contacted hotel and resort authorities in Cox’s Bazar in August. Emadul Haque, manager of Dream Holiday Hotel; Sanjay Ray, manager of Orchid Blue Hotel; and Shoaib Ali, owner of Marina Beach Resort, initially told authorities that each property housed 20 to 25 Chinese nationals.
Hotel authorities said a Chinese company had rented the properties and altered rooms, beds and other facilities to meet its requirements.
Police learned that a Chinese national known as Babar Ali and Orchid Blue manager Sanjay Ray jointly discussed the rental of three hotels and resorts with owners. The rental agreements, however, were signed with Chinese national Pai Leding.
Another Chinese national, Wu Weiping, identified himself as the owner of Jin Xin Construction Company and claimed that he was in the process of establishing a construction company in Bangladesh.
When police asked for passport and visa copies of Chinese nationals staying at the resorts, hotel and resort authorities said they did not have them. A person linked to the network initially provided a list of 25 Chinese nationals, but information was subsequently delayed on various grounds.
Police held a meeting with hotel and resort owners on August 23 and informed them of their legal obligations to provide information on foreign nationals. Owners later submitted passport copies for only 66 of the 180 Chinese nationals staying at three hotels. No visa copies were submitted.
Cox’s Bazar district police, SB and CID sources said police first raided Marina Beach Villas Resort on August 25. Chinese and Taiwanese nationals staying there escaped through the beach behind the resort after becoming aware of the operation.
Police found a laboratory and soundproof rooms during searches of the resort’s hallroom and other areas. The equipment and facilities were seized.
The SB later informed the Chinese Embassy in Dhaka. A three-member delegation from the embassy visited Marina Beach Villas Resort on August 26 and inspected the computer laboratory, soundproof rooms, iPhones and other facilities.
A Counter Terrorism Unit team inspected the resort on August 28. Another Chinese Embassy delegation visited the site on September 1 and was reportedly surprised by the technological infrastructure installed there.
Police raided two hotels in Kolatoli on September 3 and arrested Taiwanese national Wei Qing Wen and Chinese nationals Su Yangfan, Yan Changsheng, Su Haiyang, Wu Jianxiong and Zhang Zheming.
Zhan Yuan Fan, also known as Babar Ali, Pai Leding, Wu Jiping and Jian Zhang escaped, police said.
The operation resulted in the seizure of 1,938 iPhones, 40 laptops, 50 monitors, 44 computers, 30 keyboards, 40 mice and other equipment.
Police filed a case under the Cyber Security Act at Ramu police station. The six arrested suspects were sent to jail.
Ramu police station Sub-Inspector Mintu Dutta said the case named four additional accused besides the six arrested individuals. Around 300 Chinese and Taiwanese nationals were listed as unidentified accused.
An SB official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said preliminary forensic examinations of electronic devices recovered from the laboratory showed that the alleged Chinese fraud network had operations across several countries, including Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, China, South Korea and Vietnam.
Cox’s Bazar Superintendent of Police ANM Sazedur Rahman said the suspects had been under surveillance for some time before district police led the operation.
“Since the matter is cyber-related, we did not retain the case. It was handed over to the district CID. The case later moved from the district CID to the CID headquarters Cyber Police Centre. They are now investigating,” Rahman said.
Law-enforcement sources said the Chinese and Taiwanese fraud network had initially established organised scam centres in Laos and Cambodia, and later in Myanmar’s KK Park area near the Thai border.
Myanmar military operations reportedly forced the group to close its centres there. The network then attempted to establish a base in Sri Lanka, but moved to Bangladesh after operations began there as well.
Sources said the group took advantage of the presence of major Chinese projects in Bangladesh and the large number of Chinese workers involved in those projects. Members allegedly posed as workers connected to such projects to avoid suspicion and continue their activities.
Marina Beach Villas Resort became the group’s principal office in Bangladesh from February, according to investigators. The network reportedly paid around Tk4 million in monthly rent for the entire resort.
The group recruited its own cooks, electricians and workers for all types of tasks and maintained its own security system. Under the rental agreement, no representative of the resort owner was allowed to stay on the premises.
A recent visit to the resort found that a large dining hall had been converted into a computer laboratory, with tables capable of holding more than 60 computers. Wires connecting servers and electrical equipment were scattered across the facility.
The laboratory contained its own servers, IP system, communication network and soundproof infrastructure. Police have stored various seized technological devices in a separate room.
A separate room contained six soundproof booths, each fitted with a silent fan, a chair, a small table, a telephone, a pencil and a blank notebook.
Police constable Md Shahadat, who was deployed at the resort, said senior officials had told officers that members of the network used pay-mobile phones in the booths to set traps for victims.
Investigators said forensic analysis of seized electronic devices had already produced important information. The group allegedly used artificial intelligence to exchange attractive messages on social media, WhatsApp and Telegram.
The messages were allegedly used to lure people into investing in stock markets in China, South Korea and Vietnam.
CID Cox’s Bazar Inspector and second-phase investigation officer Abu Kalam Azad described the operation as a major fraud arrangement.
“This is a huge fraud operation, bigger than can be explained verbally. However, I cannot say anything further about it. Senior police officials are handling the matter,” Azad said.
Apart from Marina Beach Villas, members of the group reportedly stayed at Orchid Blue and Dream Holiday resorts in Inani and the Elias Brothers building in Khulshi, Chattogram.
Police have taken control of the properties since the raids. Main gates have been locked and guards instructed not to allow outsiders to enter.
Cleaning work was under way at Orchid Blue, where preparations were being made to reopen the resort for tourists. Dream Holiday Resort and the Elias Brothers building remained locked.
Iman Ali, responsible for security at Orchid Blue, said Chinese and Taiwanese nationals mainly stayed at the resort and rarely went outside.
“They arrived by vehicle and left by vehicle. They did not speak with anyone. Police and other government officials are now visiting for the investigation. We have been instructed to keep the rooms as they are for some more time,” Ali said.
Investigators discovered another alleged backup office in Khulshi after questioning Chinese and Taiwanese nationals arrested in Cox’s Bazar.
The Counter Terrorism Unit and Khulshi police jointly raided 14 flats in a seven-storey building in the Jalalabad residential area. Servers, computers, laptops and other information technology equipment had been installed there, police said.
Among the 63 people arrested in Chattogram were 35 Laotian nationals, 21 Pakistanis, five Chinese nationals, one Nepali and one Vietnamese national. Police recovered 170 electronic devices, including laptops and mobile phones.
Chattogram Metropolitan Police Additional Commissioner Faisal Ahmed said crackdowns against online fraudsters were under way in Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.
“They chose Bangladesh because it had become difficult for them to continue fraud activities there,” Ahmed said.
Sources said the entire seven-storey building in Jalalabad was rented for Tk400,000 per month after an advance payment of Tk1.6 million. A former army member named Zafar mediated the rental agreement and was responsible for the security of Chinese and Taiwanese nationals.
The building’s Dubai-based owners, three brothers, spoke with Zafar during the rental process.
Caretaker Elias Ali said equipment was brought to the building in trucks immediately after it was rented around one and a half months earlier. A five-member security arrangement led by Zafar was established, and even the caretaker was not allowed inside the building.
Elias Ali said the group worked in eight of the 14 rooms and lived in the remaining rooms. The group had Chinese cooks who prepared their meals, he said.
Investigators said the group used AI from Bangladesh to target citizens of Thailand, Vietnam, India, South Korea and the Maldives. The group allegedly used multiple fraud methods, with different teams assigned to different operations.
The network allegedly promoted advertisements promising “easy investment and double benefit” and launched new apps and websites for five to six months at a time. Victims who entered bank card information on the sites allegedly had dollars withdrawn from their accounts without their knowledge.
The group also allegedly targeted Thai women through romance scams. Profiles of investors in stock markets in wealthy countries were collected, and victims were approached through business discussions to obtain investment information.
Investigators said the scammers promised to increase share prices and secure profits before taking control of entire accounts and withdrawing thousands of dollars from the market.
The group allegedly targeted important individuals in several countries by using the names of prominent organisations to establish contact under the guise of awareness messages. Members then allegedly built personal relationships before carrying out fraud.
Officials said the network had people at different levels in the target countries. While fraud operations were managed from Bangladesh, subsequent activities were carried out in the respective countries.
Investigators have also found information suggesting the group’s involvement with banking systems and online gambling.
Information provided to law-enforcement agencies during remand indicated that around 400 Chinese, Taiwanese and Pakistani nationals were linked to the network. Around 150 of them were reportedly highly skilled scammers.
Each skilled scammer allegedly received a monthly salary of around US$3,000, while the station chief in Bangladesh was paid around US$7,000 per month.
CID Cyber Police Centre Special Superintendent of Police Monirul Islam, who supervises the case, said the matter was sensitive.
“The CID is investigating because district police do not have full cyber-related facilities. It would not be appropriate to say more while the investigation is ongoing,” Islam said.