Thailand’s Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) has seized assets worth more than 10 billion baht ($300 million) that officials say are linked to scam centre operations in Cambodia and the region.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul spoke at a press conference at the Police Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) in Bangkok on Wednesday, where he vowed to keep pursuing these criminal networks.
Anutin told reporters the alleged scammers whose assets had been seized were “among the big ones.” They include Chen Zhi, the Chinese-born founder of the Prince Group, who was hit with US sanctions in October and asset seizures in multiple countries, plus a Cambodian senator and two Thai nationals.
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AMLO said on Tuesday it had seized about 100 assets belonging to the Prince Group boss worth 373 million baht ($11.7 million) that include land, luxury goods, cash and jewellery.
Officials also seized $15 million in assets from Kok An, a Cambodian senator, businessman and associate of Hun Sen, the former Cambodian prime minister.
A further $290 million in assets was seized from two Thai nationals accused of links to scam operations.
Money transferred through ‘mule accounts’
CIB deputy commissioner Sophon Sarapat said the asset seizures came from investigations into complaints lodged by about 700 online scam victims over the past four years.
Police found victims’ money had been relayed through “mule accounts” and that the money – more than 3 billion baht – allegedly ended up in two bank accounts belonging to a Cambodian businessman named Yim Leak, according to Bangkok Post.
Further inquiries helped police identify 42 suspects, 29 of whom were arrested. The other 13 suspects, including Yim Leak, his Thai wife Wiranya and another Cambodian were still at large, the report said.
Police impounded assets worth over 10 billion baht after searching dozens of sites in 22 provinces. Most of the money was in half a dozen stock trading accounts with securities worth over 8 billion baht, plus they seized an 800-million-baht yacht, eight luxury vehicles worth 78 million baht, 1.1-billion-baht in cash from bank accounts and three plots of land.
Some of the money was allegedly invested in shares in Thai listed companies, such as Bangchak Corporation, which operates an oil refinery near the port in Bangkok and has been working with Chevron to look for oil and gas in the Gulf of Thailand.
An AMLO official said Yim Leak and his wife used a go-between known as ‘Miss Taengthai’ to undertake financial transactions on their behalf.
She also allegedly handled transactions for a South African businessman named Benjamin Mauerberger, who is said to have left Thailand.
Benjamin Mauerberger, also reportedly known as Ben Smith, has been the subject of a two-year investigation by former Wall Street Journal reporters Tom Wright and Bradley Hope, who were involved in exposing the 1MDB scandal in Malaysia.
They have set up a website called Whale Hunting, that has published reports on Mauerberger, alleging he used ties with business and political figures in Thailand and Cambodia to create a lucrative “shadow empire” in Southeast Asia.
Prince Group has denied that Chen Zhi was involved in illegal dealings, while politicians have threatened legal action against Wright and Hope.
- Jim Pollard
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