ASEAN Beat | Politics | Southeast Asia

Thailand Announces Further Asset Seizures in Widening Scam Probe

The assets were connected to a network surrounding the South African businessman Benjamin Mauerberger, who is wanted on fraud and money laundering charges.

Seized vehicles belonging to people involved with an alleged money-laundering network are parked outside the Anti‑Money Laundering Office (AMLO) in Bangkok, Thailand, Apr. 9, 2026.

Thai authorities have seized a further 8.3 billion baht ($260 million) in assets belonging to people involved with an alleged money-laundering network linked to Cambodia-based cyber scam operations.

In a multi-agency briefing at the Anti‑Money Laundering Office (AMLO) in Bangkok yesterday, officials announced that the seizure included cash, six cars, bank deposits, and other securities, the Bangkok Post reported.

Speaking at the briefing, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who also serves as interior minister, said that the operation, which is part of a broader investigation into Cambodia-based transnational crime groups, had targeted assets connected to a number of individuals. Among these were the Cambodian businessman Yim Leak and his wife Veereenyah (Wirinya) Yim, the South African businessman Benjamin Mauerberger (aka Ben Smith) and his wife Cattaliya Beevor, and further associates. It also included a Thai woman identified only as Tangthai, whom investigators previously alleged has handled financial transactions on behalf of Yim Leak and Mauerberger.

Anutin said that the seizures brought the total value of assets confiscated in the anti-scam investigation to more than 20 billion baht (around $620 million), revealing the extent of the damage caused by transnational scam networks operating in mainland Southeast Asia.

“These are enormous sums amassed by criminal groups whose illegal activities have harmed the economy and victimised the public,” he said, as per the Post.

In recent months, Thai investigators have been building a case against Mauerberger, who has been accused of playing a central role in helping to launder money for Cambodia-based scam syndicates. The South African was previously the subject of a rolling investigation by investigative journalists Tom Wright and Bradley Hope, who, as reporters for the Wall Street Journal, helped break the story of Malaysia’s 1MDB corruption scandal.

In a series of reports published on their Whale Hunting newsletter last year, Wright and Hope alleged that Mauerberger was a central node in a complex financial web involving prominent Cambodian and Thai political figures, some of them linked to the online scamming........

© The Diplomat