Portuguese fugitive Pedro M., accused of €500 million ($586 million) crypto and credit card fraud

A Portuguese national accused of running one of Europe’s largest cryptocurrency and credit card scams has been arrested in Thailand after a journalist on holiday in Bangkok recognized him in a luxury shopping ￰0￱ M., 39, was detained on Thursday, October 3, 2025, following a five-hour manhunt by Thai law enforcement ￰1￱ is wanted across Europe and Asia in connection with schemes allegedly worth more than €500 million ($586 million), involving Bitcoin investment fraud, card skimming, and passport ￰2￱ suspect arrested after chance encounter Pedro has long been wanted by the Portuguese authorities as well as Thai law enforcement due to various charges.

Ironically, an ironic plot twist was about to unfold as the most unlikely person helped nab the two-year fugitive. A Portuguese journalist holidaying in Thailand spotted Pedro in Bangkok and contacted ￰3￱ recognition software and biometric databases helped authorities to confirm the suspect’s identity before plainclothes officers deployed to the ￰4￱ a few hours of surveillance, the suspect was ￰5￱ first entered Thailand in 2023 on a tourist visa, but never renewed it or registered an ￰6￱ show his last visa stamp dates back nearly two ￰7￱ admitted to overstaying his visa and was formally charged with immigration ￰8￱ said he would face legal proceedings in Thailand before being deported to Portugal, where he is expected to stand ￰9￱ will also be added to Thailand’s immigration ￰10￱ ran a wide fraud network According to Interpol records and Portuguese media, Pedro has been on the run for quite a while.

He’s the suspect behind a large criminal organization with recorded operations in Europe, the Philippines, and Southeast ￰11￱ bank accounts linked to hundreds of millions of euros, while victims ranged from retail investors lured into fake crypto platforms to banks and payment processors targeted through credit card ￰12￱ officials said that shortly after his arrival in Bangkok, Pedro was involved in small local Bitcoin scams, defrauding victims of more than 1 million baht, which is about $30,800. According to reports, an arrest warrant was initially issued. However, it was later withdrawn, allowing him to evade capture and resettle in southern Thailand, where he went off radar and dropped off immigration ￰13￱ the time of his arrest, European investigators had attributed to him losses exceeding €500 million, placing the case among the largest fraud operations tied to digital assets in recent ￰14￱ stakes in crypto enforcement The arrest throws fresh light on some of the challenges regulators and law enforcement face as crypto-related scams continue to increase.

Pedro’s ability to remain in Thailand for nearly two years without valid documentation has raised questions about monitoring processes in the country, even as authorities pointed to the eventual success of biometric tools and international intelligence ￰15￱ Thai investigators were swift with acting on the tip provided by the journalist, chances are high that Pedro would still have been moving without the chance encounter in ￰16￱ is expected to be deported to Lisbon once Thai courts conclude proceedings, where prosecutors are preparing multiple charges, including fraud, money laundering and ￰17￱ is also expected to assist in attempts to trace and recover assets moved through Swiss ￰18￱ Portugal, the case will likely mark one of the largest financial crime trials tied to ￰19￱ your free seat in an exclusive crypto trading community - limited to 1,000 members.