Thai police arrested Steffen, surname withheld, 54 years old, of German nationality, for allegedly producing and distributing child pornography, generating over 3.5 million baht.
Thai police arrested the German national in Chonburi and confiscated computers, mobile phones and data after a tip from the US Homeland Security Investigations.
Chief of the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) Police Major-General Athip Pongsivapai said that the man was arrested on Tuesday at his condo unit in Bang Lamung district, Chonburi. The arrest was announced in a press briefing at the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) headquarters.
In a The Nation report, the suspect is facing several criminal charges including “possession and distribution of child pornography, production and trade of obscene materials, and importing and disseminating content via computer systems”.
Materials that Steffen allegedly peddled were illicit content but not limited to hidden camera footage and explicit videos.
Payments were done through membership using cryptocurrency, both for viewing and downloading content. Initial investigation revealed that Steffen used a complex money-laundering system in transferring funds from cryptocurrency into Thai baht.
Confiscated with Steffen were a laptop, a server, mobile phones, data storage devices containing more that 140,000 files, bank accounts, credit cards and sim cards. Steffen confessed to the allegations, claiming to operate 2 websites that had more than 10,000 members and 5,000 pornographic videos or mainly children.