Thai police said on Monday they had arrested a Finnish man in a tourist town for allegedly committing fraud worth 143 million dollars in his home country.

Risto Sakari Hentunen, 42, was arrested in front of his apartment building in the Thai resort town of Pattaya on Saturday by police holding an Interpol warrant, said Colonel Chartchai Ieamsang.

He said the man, who has lived in the country with his Thai wife since 2005, would be handed to the Finnish embassy before being extradited to his homeland to face charges.

Hentunen and two friends allegedly committed fraud worth 97 million euros (143.2 million dollars) in Finland in 2004, when they opened a currency trading company before fleeing the country with the money, police said.

Chartchai said Hentunen had admitted knowing about the warrant for his arrest. But police had not yet found evidence of wrongdoing in his Thai bank accounts, to which they expected the money to have been transferred, he added.