BANGKOK, THAILAND – Thai central investigators issued arrest warrants for alleged investment fraudster Ben Smith and his wife while securing extensive asset freezes worth billions of baht.
Arrest warrants and raids
The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) announced on 2 March 2026 via its official Facebook page that arrest warrants had been issued for “Ben Smith”, also known as Benjamin Bauerberger, and his wife on suspicion of cross-border investment fraud.
According to the CIB, officers searched six target properties and company-related locations in central regions, seized evidence and expanded their investigation to possible money-laundering offences.
Seized technology and missing couple
Investigators reported seizing a total of 13 pieces of evidence during the raids, including two desktop computers, two iPads, five mobile phones, two laptops, financial documents and six company seals.
No trace of Mauerberger, described as an internationally active fixer who allegedly operated under the name “Ben Smith”, or his Thai wife was found at any of the locations.
Billions in assets frozen
The Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) had previously ordered its transactions committee to temporarily freeze assets linked to Ben Smith and his network, with a total value of more than 13 billion baht.
On 11 February 2026, authorities decided to forward the case to the public prosecutor so it could ask the Civil Court to maintain the provisional asset freeze on a permanent basis.
Civil Court decisions
On 27 February 2026, the Civil Court, citing Section 55 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act B.E. 2542, ordered the provisional seizure and freezing of the affected assets until further decisions, assigning the secretary-general of AMLO to secure and administer them.
The measures covered four case complexes, including proceedings against Ms. Tangthai, Mr. LEAK YIM, Ms. Warinya, Mr. SMITH BEN and Ms. Catriya with an estimated volume of around 12.123 billion baht, as well as further cases against the accused Chen Zhi, Kok An and Uea Angkoon involving 345 million, 560 million and 46 million baht respectively.
Allegations and affected investors
According to the CIB, victims accused the couple of luring them between 2016 and 2022 into several failed or allegedly fraudulent projects, including real estate, energy and private jet investments, causing total losses of about 1 billion baht.
Mauerberger, a South African national, was also said to have close ties to fraud suspects indicted in Cambodia such as Yim Leak, Kok An and Chen Zhi, chairman of the Prince Holding Group, whose Bitcoin holdings worth around 15 billion US dollars became the target of what the U.S. Department of Justice described in October last year as its largest-ever forfeiture action.
Multi-billion fraud – what lies behind it?
Arrest warrants, six raids and frozen assets in the billions formed the core of what investigators described as clear evidence of cross-border investment fraud.
“Do you believe an international network is being dismantled here, or is this only the beginning of an even bigger scandal? What is your view of the authorities’ role and the multi-billion sums involved?”
said The Nation, posing questions to its readers in the original report.