A German retiree was arrested for allegedly scamming Australians in an online fraud scheme operated from southern Thailand.

David Guy Hamburger, 54, reportedly duped Aussies into making fake stock investments through a sham online trading platform.

He was said to have converted some of the funds into cryptocurrency before fleeing to bohemian Thai island Koh Phangan, home of the notorious Full Moon Party, where he opened several companies using Thai nominees.

Police detained David on Tuesday, July 8, as he was riding a motorbike near his residence in Choco Villa.

The arrest came following information from Australian authorities regarding the fraudulent scheme traced back to Thailand.

Officials took David back to his home for a search. They seized more than 19 million Baht (430,000 GBP) of ill-gotten assets, including a crypto wallet, four bank accounts, 495,000 Baht (11,200 GBP) in cash, a land title deed, four cars, 13 luxury watches and two laptops.

The laptops reportedly contained scripts used to trick Australians into investing in the fake stocks. There were also detailed records of the victims.

Authorities said they were investigating nominee companies believed to have been established by David.

The German had been living on Koh Phangan for more than five years on a retiree visa. He owned multiple businesses on the island, including a restaurant, a construction firm, and a villa rental company.

Police Colonel Paisal Santhep, deputy commander of Surat Thani Provincial Police, said: ‘We will summon relevant individuals who helped the suspect set up four nominee companies, including Chesapeake Ross Co, Montana Realty Co, Laguna Cliff Co, and Gollum Co.

‘We are gathering evidence to charge him for being a nominee or using a nominee to conduct business.'

David was detained on charges of public fraud and putting false information into a computer system. Police said they will file additional charges under the Foreign Business Act.

(1 GBP = 44.35 THB)