Woman cons people of Rs 1.77 crore with airline job scam, undergoes plastic surgery to evade arrest

The fugitive woman underwent plastic surgery to evade authorities. (Representational)

A Chinese woman, wanted for defrauding over 1.5 million yuan (approximately Rs 1.77 crore), has been caught in Thailand after nearly two years on the run, with authorities reporting she underwent plastic surgery to alter her appearance.

Identified by her surname, Xie, the 30-year-old fugitive had evaded Chinese authorities after orchestrating a scheme that promised victims airline jobs in exchange for steep payments. She was arrested by Thai Immigration Police and is now expected to be extradited back to China, South China Morning Post reported.

Thai Immigration Police detained Xie on October 7 after receiving a tip-off from Bangkok locals, who had noted her unusual habit of covering her face and wearing a mask, raising suspicions of illegal immigration.

According to authorities, officers intercepted Xie as she came down from her apartment to collect a food delivery. During this encounter, Xie failed to produce a valid passport and was found to have overstayed her 15-day visa-on-arrival by over 650 days, having first entered Thailand in late 2022.

Xie’s record shows a pattern of deceit dating back nearly a decade. Between 2016 and 2019, she allegedly swindled at least six individuals out of a combined 1.52 million yuan, fabricating connections with prominent airlines and promising job placements for aspiring flight attendants.

Among her victims was her cousin who reported that Xie had concocted a luxurious online persona as a flight attendant, often sharing photos from international locales to lure unsuspecting followers into her schemes.
In 2018, Xie convinced her cousin to lend her 52,000 yuan (Rs 6.13 lakh), claiming she needed the funds to help a friend purchase a watch in Japan and promising a reward of 5,000 yuan for Wu’s cooperation. Despite repeated requests, Wu was only able to recover a fraction of the sum, later learning that Xie’s flight attendant persona was a sham.

Xie’s claim to fame as a flight attendant collapsed as Thai police uncovered that she was flagged with an Interpol Blue Notice, signalling her international fugitive status. The notice had been issued at the request of Chinese authorities, who had tracked her deception back to 2014, when early reports of her fraudulent activities first emerged, SCMP reported.

Reports suggest that Xie diverted a portion of the funds from her schemes to finance her plastic surgery, an attempt to alter her appearance and avoid detection.

The Thai Immigration Bureau Division has confirmed that Xie will be penalised under Thai law for her visa violations and subsequently deported to China. Her case has drawn comparisons to infamous Chinese fugitive Lao Rongzhi, who eluded law enforcement for two decades by using aliases and altering her appearance with multiple surgeries.

Lao was eventually captured in 2019 and sentenced to death last year.