Thailand has confiscated more than $300 million in assets linked to transnational cyberscam networks operating across Southeast Asia, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Wednesday, marking one of the country’s largest crackdowns on criminal groups accused of running multibillion-dollar fraud operations.
The action follows a wave of coordinated seizures and freezes by authorities in Asia, Europe and the United States targeting Cambodia’s Prince Holding Group and its global network. In October, US prosecutors indicted the group’s founder, Chinese-born businessman Chen Zhi, accusing him of overseeing forced-labour compounds in Cambodia where trafficked workers ran online scams.
Anutin said those facing asset seizures, including Chen, a Cambodian senator and two Thai nationals, were “among the big ones.” He added that “all those responsible must be brought to justice under the law.”.
Thailand’s Anti-Money Laundering Office said Tuesday that it had taken control of roughly 100 items belonging to Chen valued at 373 million baht ($11.7 million), including land, cash, jewellery and luxury goods.
Authorities also seized nearly $15 million in assets tied to Cambodian senator Kok An, an ally of former leader Hun Sen, and about $290 million from two Thai suspects allegedly connected to scam operations. Anutin did not specify when the seizures took place.
Cyberscam networks have expanded rapidly across the region, often hiding behind offices or warehouse compounds while targeting victims worldwide. Some workers join voluntarily, while others are trafficked and held under coercive conditions.
International authorities have also moved against Prince’s holdings. Britain has frozen more than $130 million in business and property assets linked to the network, while Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong have each carried out seizures reaching as high as $350 million. The US Justice Department, which in October labeled Prince Group “one of Asia’s largest transnational criminal organisations,” said it had seized about $15 billion in bitcoin connected to alleged criminal proceeds.
Prince has rejected the allegations and said neither the company nor Chen has committed any crime.