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Thailand issues arrest warrants for South African couple in US$30 million fraud case
Ben Smith and his wife reportedly tricked their victim into investing millions in stocks, real estate, a private jet and energy businesses
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A Thai court issued arrest warrants for a foreign businessman and his wife accused of investment fraud and money laundering, with one victim allegedly conned out of more than US$30 million, police said.
Thailand’s Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) accused Ben Smith, also identified in news reports as South African Benjamin Mauerberger, and his wife, Cattaliya Beevor, of “cross-border investment fraud” dating back to 2016, according to a statement from the bureau on Monday.
Media reports have previously linked Smith to transnational scam operations in Cambodia, part of a multibillion-dollar illicit industry that has ballooned in the region.
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Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul – who told reporters in December that he knew Smith “but was not close” to him – said on Monday that the warrants were in line with the government’s policy of cracking down on scammers and money launderers “regardless of who they are”.
A criminal court issued the arrest warrants on fraud and money laundering charges on Thursday.
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Smith, 47, and Beevor, 40, were accused of deceiving an unnamed foreign victim into investing in stocks, real estate, a private jet and energy businesses, building credibility until the victim “believed the schemes and transferred more than one billion baht (US$31.8 million)”, the investigation bureau said.
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