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Aidan Jones

A luxury superyacht seized from fugitive financier Benjamin Mauerberger is due for auction at a starting price of US$18 million on Tuesday, as authorities seek to claw back money from powerful money laundering networks across Thailand.
Mauerberger and his wife, Cattaliya Beevor, are wanted by Thai police on fraud and money laundering charges, linked to what prosecutors allege was a bogus investment scheme stretching back to 2016.
The highly connected South African businessman is also believed to be at the heart of a network moving vast sums of cash from scam centres in Cambodia into Thai property, listed companies and other investment vehicles across Southeast Asia.
Nearly US$700 million worth of assets have been seized in Thailand so far, much of it linked to Mauerberger. These include shares in major corporations, properties, luxury cars and yachts – an example of what financial experts say are the vast pools of dirty money sloshing through the kingdom’s economy.
Thai police say the pair fled the kingdom as investigators sought them out over the decade-old allegations of investment fraud. Their whereabouts remain unclear, with unconfirmed reports saying they have sought sanctuary in Dubai.

As part of its four-day auction that starts on Tuesday, Thailand’s Anti-Money Laundering Office will “conduct a sale by public auction” of the 51-metre superyacht called Atlas and a speedboat – considered “assets connected with the commission of offences” – at separate Phuket marinas.
Mauerberger, also known as Ben Smith, has denied any wrongdoing. Yet the investigation into his finances has raised awkward questions across Southeast Asia’s political class – especially in Thailand and Cambodia, where he has been photographed at events with top-ranked politicians.
Exactly how the South African cosied up to the powers-that-be is unclear, although he is believed to have become a touchpoint for foreign investors into Thailand and Cambodia, as well as fixer for the rich and powerful, including by running a private jet business.
Rinse, repeat
In a hint of the spread of illicit money inside the financial sector, Singaporean police in March arrested two people linked to Capital Asia Investments and seized US$140 million for suspected money laundering. Reports have linked the investment company to Maurerberger as well as other beneficiaries from Asia’s scam centres.
“The upside is it is positive that prosecutions are happening,” said Sarinee Achavanuntakul, a sustainable business advocate, and prominent voice on Thailand’s financial sector.
“I think we can now take it as a fact that Thailand is a major money laundering hub for scams in neighbouring countries Cambodia and Myanmar. Their economies are too small to wash all the dirty money that’s being made. That makes Thailand a logical choice to launder money.”
Driven by pressure from China and the United States, there have been regular crackdowns on scam centres in Myanmar and Cambodia. Nearly every week, a fortune in assets is seized in Thailand, with supercars, gold bars and jewellery ending up on the auction floor as authorities work to compensate victims.


Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has pledged to follow the money trail – even if it leads to former and current members of his government.
The FBI has joined the blitz on the scam centres and the money that spews from them. In Cambodia, thousands of foreign nationals have been released in recent months – many of them saying they were duped into working for mainly Chinese scam bosses.
Myanmar has also closed multiple locations used for industrial-scale fraud. The government and ethnic militias have blown up some scam factories they claim operated without their knowledge – despite becoming mini-cities with economies larger than neighbouring towns.
Still, the scam centres have not closed for good. Instead, they have moved deeper into Myanmar, according to NGOs working to free trafficking victims from the premises.
At least 5,300 people remain trapped in scam centres in Myanmar’s Kayin state alone, said the Civil Society Network for Human Trafficking Victims Assistance, which has rescued thousands of people from the compounds. The victims were mainly Chinese, followed by Africans, Southeast Asians and South Americans, the society said.
One of the biggest compounds, Tai Chang, operates in an area allegedly controlled by Democratic Karen Benevolent Army, an ethnic armed militia. In April, the US put up a US$10 million reward for “information leading to the seizure or recovery of funds involved in money laundering related to scams” operating out of Tai Chang.


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Thailand auctions US$18 million superyacht linked to supersized fraud

Atlas, a superyacht belonging to fugitive financier Benjamin Mauerberger, goes under the hammer on Tuesday. Photo: Anti-Money Laundering Office

Benjamin Mauerberger, also known as Ben Smith, is accused of cross-border investment fraud dating back to 2016. Photo: Handout

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An artist’s rendering of the Origin Property project in Phuket. Photo: Handout

Tourists visit Koh Samui island in Thailand. Photo: Handout

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Nearly US$700 million in assets have been seized in Thailand so far, an example of the amount of dirty money sloshing through the economy


Nearly US$700 million in assets have been seized in Thailand so far, an example of the amount of dirty money sloshing through the economy.


Thailand auctions US$18 million superyacht linked to supersized fraud

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Nearly US$700 million in assets have been seized in Thailand so far, an example of the amount of dirty money sloshing through the economy

Nearly US$700 million in assets have been seized in Thailand so far, an example of the amount of dirty money sloshing through the economy