Although Malaysian police too had requested for Teow’s repatriation, Surachate said there was no arrest warrant issued against Teow in Malaysia.

He said Thai police had received an extradition request from the Chinese government.

“We have been working on his extradition for more than a month. We have forwarded the request to the attorney-general. Once it is completed, he will be deported to China by the end of the year,” he told Bernama here today.

The 55-year old Penang-born entrepreneur, dubbed Jho Low 2 in reference to another Malaysian fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho linked to the 1MDB scandal, is on the Interpol Red Notice list for questioning.

On July 22, Teow, who is the founder of MBI Group, was placed under the custody of Thai immigration police after his visa was revoked, and was due to be deported.

Although Malaysia and China are seeking his extradition, it is learnt that China was the first country to request for it.

Beijing police also reportedly wanted him for questioning following a suit filed by about 400 investors from China to recover investments worth some RM100 million.

On July 25, Bukit Aman said it was in the process of applying for Teow to be repatriated to Malaysia to assist in investigations under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.

Teow had been making headlines in Thailand over a number of cheating cases. In 2011, he was sentenced to a day’s jail and fined RM160,000 on two counts of cheating more than RM1 million in an investment scheme – Island Red Café.

In 2017, Malaysian authorities had frozen a total of 91 bank accounts with RM177 million linked to MBI International.

In 2019, hundreds of Chinese nationals staged a peaceful protest outside the republic’s embassy in Kuala Lumpur claiming that they had been cheated by an online pyramid scheme operated by MBI.

Last year, police said Teow and his two sons were involved in the RM336 million Macau scam. However, police believed Teow had fled the country and was hiding in Dannok, Sadao, in South Thailand.