An American director dubbed the ‘Bill Gates of porn’ was arrested in Thailand due to an alleged 70 million baht software fraud.

The wealthy businessman, identified by police only as John, was detained by authorities when he returned to a luxury apartment block in Bangkok on August 25.

After living in the country for 20 years, the ex-pat had no previous criminal record. However, a company sued him for fraud due to the allged non-payment of an online security contract for malware worth 70 million baht, or more than 1.5 million GBP.

He was taken to the Phaya Thai police station for questioning and has been remanded in custody while investigations are ongoing.

A police spokesman said: ‘The Dusit criminal court which issued the arrest warrant found that he allegedly put company assets in his own name to avoid payment.’

During the 90s, the businessman reportedly earned the nickname ‘Bill Gates of online porn’ after being one of the firsts to start the business during the dot com era.

He reportedly became one of the richest entrepreneurs of the tech bubble. However, after facing multiple lawsuits in the U.S., he decided to live in Thailand permanently as a resident.

Police said that investigations on the incident are still ongoing.