Thailand has seized assets worth more than $300 million and issued arrest warrants for 42 individuals in a sweeping crackdown on transnational scam networks operating across Southeast Asia, officials announced on Wednesday.
Authorities said the operation targeted criminal groups linked to large-scale online fraud rings that have proliferated in border areas between Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia.
According to media reports, Deputy Commissioner of the Thai Central Investigation Bureau Sophon Saraphat said investigators had confiscated assets valued at THB10.15 billion ($318 million). “Arrest warrants have been issued by the Criminal Court for 42 individuals,” Saraphat said, adding that 29 suspects had been taken into custody as of Tuesday.
The latest enforcement action centers on alleged networks tied to Chinese-Cambodian businessman Chen Zhi, head of the US-sanctioned Prince Group, as well as Cambodian nationals Kok An and Yim Leak. Thai authorities said the three were connected to cross-border online fraud operations that used illegal compounds to generate billions from forced labor and trafficking victims.
Thailand’s Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) said investigators uncovered “information on networks of online fraud, human trafficking, and money-laundering” linked to Chen and his associates. Some of the assets seized were tied directly to the tycoon, whose whereabouts remain unknown. It was not immediately clear whether Chen was among those named in the Thai arrest warrants.
The Prince Group did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Chen could not be reached. The company has previously denied involvement in any illegal activity, rejecting allegations made by Western authorities. In October, the US Justice Department indicted Chen on charges including wire-fraud conspiracy and money-laundering conspiracy for allegedly overseeing forced-labor scam compounds in Cambodia.
Regional scrutiny around Prince Group has intensified in recent months. Authorities in Hong Kong and Singapore have frozen or seized assets linked to the conglomerate worth $354 million and $116 million, respectively, following sanctions imposed by the United States and the United Kingdom.
Thai investigators also targeted assets linked to Yim Leak, whom authorities described as the heir to an influential Cambodian network involved in fraudulent financial transactions. AMLO said it confiscated several trading accounts, including shares worth THB6 billion ($188 million) in Bangchak Corporation, a major regional energy company. Bangchak said the actions related to an individual shareholder and stressed that its operations remained unaffected.
Authorities said they have also identified a criminal group operating from facilities in Cambodia owned by Kok An, which allegedly used illicit proceeds to acquire assets in Thailand. Cambodian officials have not publicly responded to the allegations.
