Embezzled 500 billion and fled to Thailand to become a monk, the "Chinese giant fraudster" learned of extradition back to China and lost 40 pounds

Author: Shu Ye, Financial Gossip Girl

The latest news has brought joy to many.

On the evening of August 20, with the strong assistance of relevant domestic departments, our embassy in Thailand, and Thai law enforcement agencies, the Ministry of Public Security's "Fox Hunt" task force successfully extradited the major economic crime suspect Zhang Moumou, who is suspected of organizing and leading pyramid schemes, back to China from Thailand.

This case marks the first extradition of an economic crime suspect from Thailand to China since the China-Thailand extradition treaty came into effect in 1999.

Who is this Zhang Moumou? What did he do?

Do you remember the head of the MBI Group, who absconded with 500 billion and lived freely in Thailand for many years, defrauding millions? This Zhang Moumou is none other than Zhang Yufa, the leader of that group.

Zhang Yufa founded the MBI Group, orchestrating a "century scam" that defrauded Chinese people of 500 billion, then fled from Malaysia to Thailand, where he shaved his head and became a "monk" in a temple, shocking everyone.

During his years hiding in Thailand, Zhang Yufa lived extravagantly. He not only bought an entire street in the border town of Songkhla but also opened five-star hotels, entertainment venues, amusement parks, and shopping malls. He even created the largest elephant statue in Thailand worth 50 million Thai baht and a Brahma statue adorned with jewels worth another 50 million Thai baht, demonstrating his arrogance.

In 2022, Zhang Yufa was arrested in Thailand, and the legal proceedings dragged on for over two years. At that time, China immediately applied for his extradition, but he had also committed crimes in Malaysia, which wanted to extradite him as well. Therefore, this extradition took some time.

The extradition of this major fraudster, who caused losses exceeding 100 billion and left many Chinese people bankrupt, ultimately shows that no matter how cunning a wrongdoer is, they will eventually pay the price for their actions.

From Malaysia to Thailand as a Monk, Defrauding 500 Billion from Countless Tycoons

Now, the "Chinese mega fraudster" Zhang Yufa has finally been extradited back to China. Unexpectedly, the legal battle lasted for two years.

Zhang Yufa escorted back to the country

As early as July 2022, Zhang Yufa was caught in Thailand. After his arrest, he was detained at the local immigration detention center and then transferred to Bangkok for incarceration. Soon, Thailand would revoke his visa and deport him.

At that time, China saw an opportunity and quickly requested his extradition based on the extradition treaty between China and Thailand. Since November 2020, China had already issued a red notice through Interpol to apprehend him.

However, Malaysia also wanted to extradite Zhang Yufa and had submitted a request to the Thai authorities.

After all, Zhang Yufa had also committed crimes in Malaysia, notorious for the "pyramid scheme" he orchestrated. His assets were frozen due to selling MBI stocks, and he was specifically wanted by the Malaysian police.

In October 2019, a large-scale protest shook the Chinese-speaking community in Malaysia.

At that time, hundreds of Chinese people surrounded the Malaysian embassy, kneeling in the rain to seek justice, accusing the Malaysian investment company MBI of defrauding them of huge sums of money and demanding that the fraudster Zhang Yufa return their money.

Rumor has it that three suspected radical victims stormed a luxury home in Penang, which belonged to Zhang Yufa's son.

At that time, Zhang Yufa had absconded with over 500 billion, affecting more than ten thousand victims.

After the incident, the Chinese embassy in Malaysia issued five statements, urging the involved company to respond to the demands and calling on victims to "abide by local laws."

Ironically, during this time, Zhang Yufa had fled to the Na Thawi temple in Songkhla, Thailand, to shave his head and become a monk, claiming to have "converted to Buddhism out of respect for the temple's abbot." The former fraudster transformed into a seemingly devout Buddhist.

This left the public baffled, and many pointed out that becoming a monk wouldn't cleanse him of his sins.

Zhang Yufa was certainly not repentant. He saw the extradition and communication with the local courts as processes that required time, hoping to find an opportunity to escape extradition.

At the same time, Zhang Yufa attempted to make a comeback in Thailand. Surprisingly, he actually succeeded.

During his "escape to Thailand," Zhang Yufa lived lavishly, maintaining a boss-like demeanor. He bought an entire street in Songkhla and developed hotels, entertainment venues, amusement parks, and shopping malls, covering an area equivalent to over 200 football fields, valued at over 10 billion Thai baht.

Having made money, Zhang Yufa sought to bribe Thai officials, giving money to local authorities in exchange for protection, allowing him to continue his business without hindrance. If nothing had gone wrong, he might have bought half of Songkhla.

But the net of justice is vast and unyielding. In 2022, Zhang Yufa was arrested in Thailand and awaited trial. Finally, in May of this year, the Thai court decided to send him to China for trial. By August, Thailand agreed.

Subsequently, staff from the Chinese embassy in Thailand picked up Zhang Yufa from a Bangkok prison and took him to the airport, completing all exit procedures. On August 20, with the cooperation of various Chinese departments, the Chinese embassy in Thailand, and law enforcement agencies, Zhang Yufa was finally brought back from Thailand.

It is worth noting that this is the first time China has extradited an economic crime suspect from Thailand since the China-Thailand extradition treaty took effect in 1999.

According to Thai media reports, after receiving the news last month that he would be extradited to China, Zhang Yufa was so worried that he couldn't eat or sleep, losing 40 pounds in a month.

Now that the news of Zhang Yufa's extradition has emerged, victims are rushing to share the news.

Lawyer Yu Jiafu

On August 21, lawyer Yu Jiafu held a press conference, representing 400 Chinese victims, stating that everyone was very happy to hear that Zhang Yufa would be tried in China; they had finally waited for this day.

As early as November 2021, Yu Jiafu announced that he would represent 400 Chinese investors in a civil lawsuit against MBI International Group and Zhang Yufa, accusing them of fraud through financial games and seeking to recover over 100 million in investment funds.

He also revealed that in June of this year, he specifically emailed the Thai side to inquire about the extradition, and in August received a reply stating that the Thai court had decided to send Zhang Yufa back to China after the second trial.

Yu Jiafu emphasized that on October 7 of this year, he would represent these 400 victims in court in Kuala Lumpur to continue this lawsuit, vowing to recover everyone's hard-earned money.

Is there still hope to recover these billions?

Inviting Celebrities to Promote, Engaging in Charity, Yet Turning Virtual Currency into a Pyramid Scheme

How did Zhang Yufa manage to defraud 500 billion from the Chinese people using his "magical tricks"?

In fact, he was running a virtual currency pyramid scheme. In 2015, riding the wave of virtual currency, Zhang Yufa established the "MFC Game Financial Management Platform" and issued virtual currencies such as Easy Exchange Points and Huake Gold. At that time, many were issuing coins, but he focused on packaging.

To attract people, Zhang Yufa presented it as a legitimate company. He first spent a lot of money to recruit some former Malaysian officials as company advisors. With official endorsement, credibility greatly increased.

Then, he invited celebrities to promote it; stars like Wu Qixian had close interactions with Zhang Yufa, and MBI even sponsored Wu Qixian's concert.

Additionally, Zhang Yufa engaged in charity work; at that time, who would have thought that a philanthropist could be a fraudster?

Wu Qixian (center) and Zhang Yufa (right)

But that's not all; there were also thresholds for buying his coins. His trick was that to become a member of his group (the "M Fans"), one had to purchase virtual currency ranging from 700 to 350,000 yuan to receive annual returns of 10% to 200%.

If you developed new members, there were different levels of rewards. Direct referral rewards could earn 6%-10% of the investment amount from downline members; matching rewards could earn 6%-10% from the fees of downline members in two areas; leadership rewards could earn 4% from matching rewards of downline members, even up to the sixth level.

MBI claimed that its coins were like stocks, only going up and never down. Once they reached a certain height, they could start distributing profits, increasing Easy Exchange Points. As long as the money stayed in, it would keep doubling, and the more you bought, the more you earned.

Want to withdraw? Sure, but it takes a bit longer; buying 10 million takes one second, but withdrawing 10,000 takes a day. Think that's slow? No problem, you can sell your coins to other "M Fans," which is much faster!

These coins could also be used to spend at MBI's hotels and shopping malls, so why worry about circulation? Thus, the treatment of "earning passively in a legitimate company" attracted a large number of people to join.

After making a fortune in Malaysia, MBI also extended its reach to China, seeking more "investors."

In 2012, He Zhenqiu and Gu Xiping joined MBI through Zhang Yufa and brought MBI into China. At that time, He Zhenqiu was referred to as the "Chinese stock god" by followers, claiming that this model could make everyone "forced" to become wealthy.

Under such temptation, a large number of fans stayed up all night "gold mining," rushing into Zhang Yufa's trap. MBI also spread wildly across the country through word of mouth.

By 2015, MBI had ballooned to a scale of billions, truly becoming one of Malaysia's top enterprises.

In essence, this was a typical "Ponzi scheme," using investments from new "leeks" to pay returns to old "leeks," continuously attracting a stream of new "leeks" to join…

And these people were all defrauded by Zhang Yufa. Some followers said, "He taught us how to invest, and we believed in him completely, even calling him 'Dad Zhang'; in our hearts, he was like a patriarch."

In the MBI fan group, someone once said: "Zhang Yufa's wisdom is beyond what a thousand brains could conceive. We admire him and believe in him."

But MBI ended up ruining them: some brought MBI "comrades" home, leading to complete breakdowns in their marriages; some ignored objections and insisted on investing, even cutting ties with their children; others invested all their savings into MBI, only to end up with nothing…

In 2015, Chinese police were the first to expose Zhang Yufa's scam, identifying MBI as a pyramid scheme. Subsequently, police in Guangxi, Shanghai, and Sichuan successfully cracked multiple major cross-provincial network pyramid scheme cases involving MBI, freezing assets worth over 100 million. Yet, investors still firmly believed that MBI was wronged.

In 2017, China and Malaysia jointly cracked down on MBI. Chinese leaders He Zhenqiu, Gu Xiping, and 12 others were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 1.5 to 8 years for organizing and leading pyramid schemes, with fines ranging from 100,000 to 600,000.

At the same time, Malaysia launched an operation codenamed "Ops Token" against pyramid schemes, raiding Zhang Yufa's mansion, freezing over 90 accounts and more than 100 million in assets, and detaining him for several days.

Despite a flurry of actions, the charges ultimately leveled against Zhang Yufa were merely "issuing coins without permission," and he was soon released on bail. He then transformed into an international blockchain angel investor, joining the WCO (World Crypto Organization). At that time, many investors still believed that the MBI Group was strong enough to weather the storm.

In May 2018, according to Malaysia's Sin Chew Daily, Zhang Yufa was prosecuted by local courts. Previously, the Malaysian police headquarters had frozen all of Zhang Yufa's assets in Malaysia and placed him on a high financial risk blacklist. At this point, investors still held onto fantasies about MBI.

It wasn't until 2019, when they could no longer withdraw their money, that they realized they had truly been scammed, but it was too late. Many people foolishly invested large sums without even knowing who Zhang Yufa really was…

The "Super Rich" Turns Out to Be a Bottom-Level Fraudster, Even Buffett Was Badly Defrauded by Him?

There are several rumors regarding Zhang Yufa's identity.

As the man behind the MBI Group, Zhang Yufa packaged himself as a "super rich person," opening high-end consumer venues and spending heavily to acquire an airline, building a massive business empire in Malaysia.

The industries operated by his MBI Group are diverse, involving real estate, chain supermarkets, online shopping malls, film companies, chain apartment hotels, green home products, and more, with assets reaching hundreds of billions.

Zhang Yufa's background seemed solid; he boasted of being a cousin of Malaysia's "Father of Independence," and the Malaysian police chief endorsed his company…

In reality, Zhang Yufa came from a very ordinary background. He was originally from Guangdong Province and was a third-generation Chinese Malaysian. He had been in society for a long time, selling mobile phones, small appliances, and clothing, but had not made any money for most of his life.

It wasn't until 2008, when Zhang Yufa was in his 40s, that he made his first pot of gold, and his methods of making money were quite unusual.

At that time, Zhang Yufa, Zhang Zhihao, and Wang Dongshan opened a chain of "Red Island Cafes," with a menu featuring only two or three items and often running out of stock. How could such a business survive?

However, he devised a shareholder system, claiming that investors could "earn money while drinking coffee."

Here, you only needed to pay a few thousand yuan to become a shareholder, receiving a large number of consumption vouchers each month, and most importantly, enjoying a 5% monthly return, with an annual yield of 60%. After five years, your investment could multiply several times. If you brought in new people, you could also earn generous commissions.

Red Island Cafe once became extremely popular, but in reality, it was a "shell." Those who paid to be "shareholders" received no actual shares; Zhang Yufa used that money to open more Red Island Cafes, attracting more people to "invest."

Using this covert pyramid scheme, the number of shareholders at Red Island Cafe once reached 3,000, and Zhang Yufa pocketed millions. But it wasn't long before Red Island Cafe collapsed, and Zhang Yufa and his partners were imprisoned, convicted of fraud by a Malaysian court.

However, for reasons unknown, Zhang Yufa was released in less than six months and soon began plotting an even larger scheme…

After that, Zhang Yufa partnered with his friend Wang Zihua to establish a company called "Dream Realization Group." Since running a physical business was easy to shut down, they decided to dabble in so-called "light assets," focusing on a no-cost, high-yield pyramid scheme.

Wang Zihua was also a formidable character; he claimed to be a "Datuk" but was actually a bookie, taking people to casinos to gamble and earning commissions, while also making money through real estate and stock investments. Even after the collapse, he continued to falsely claim to be the "prince" of Perak, Malaysia.

Later, based on the foundation of the jointly established Dream Realization Group, Zhang Yufa founded the MBI Group, officially known as the "Malaysia Enbi Ai Group," headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Its initial business included clothing, chain hotels, and film production.

In 2012, Zhang Yufa came into contact with SMI, a "technology company" based in Hong Kong, which focused on token market investments, claiming to "make money work for you," using "game financial management" as its method. This financial game was essentially about paying money to develop downlines.

Compared to Zhang Yufa's previous cafe, SMI's business model was more mature. They not only had online industries such as consumer websites and software development companies but also various offline industries, including gaming, nail salons, cafes, and health food.

SMI claimed to be "neither direct selling nor speculating, simply replicating Buffett's financial system." However, if this reached Buffett's ears, he would likely be furious.

Before long, SMI was targeted by the police, so it rebranded as Finnciti, but the essence remained unchanged. As SMI began to decline, Zhang Yufa "returned" and incorporated SMI's system into his MBI company, subsequently making a big score with virtual currency…

But ultimately, it was all just a "change of soup but not the medicine." Zhang Yufa was running a pyramid scheme while executing scams, but the massive bubble was bound to burst. Now that Zhang Yufa has been extradited back to China, he awaits the judgment of Chinese law, leaving the deceived investors in despair over the billions lost!

Investment carries risks, especially with so many fraudsters around; one must stay vigilant and not be blinded by high profits and returns… Reference: "Involved in Over 100 Billion! A Major Economic Crime Suspect Extradited from Thailand to China," People's Daily

"Malaysian Fraudster Who Defrauded Chinese of 500 Billion Became a Monk in Thailand," ELLEMEN.