Source:
前言：Benjamin Mauerberger（假名：Ben Smith）的故事，跟「一馬弊案」(1MDB Scandal) 的關鍵人物劉特佐 (Jho Low) 有相似之處，也有不同之處。
先講相似之處。
兩人同樣是經營一個非常龐大而複雜的跨國洗黑錢網絡，同樣是透過收購或入股不同行業的公司清洗黑錢，也同樣跟政治人物搭上關係。劉特佐 (Jho Low) 與馬來西亞前總理納吉布 (Najib Razak) 有關。南非白人 Benjamin Mauerberger 跟泰國前總理他信 (Thaksin Shinawatra) 有關，在泰國生活時使用假名 Ben Smith。
根據網媒 Whale Hunting 的調查報導，Mauerberger 操控的公司和物業總值 1.5 billion (USD)。此外，Mauerberger 也搭上柬埔寨前總理洪森 (Hun Sen) ，把來自柬埔寨的錢注入泰國，收購多間公司。如果你知道泰國和柬埔寨之間的恩怨情仇（提示：領土糾紛），會覺得此人不可思議。
兩人同樣被執法部門通緝，有巨額資產被凍結或沒收。也同樣是出走，目前下落不明。根據網媒 Whale Hunting 的調查報導（發表於 2025 年 7 月 18日），劉特佐 (Jho Low) 以假身份匿藏於上海，指導中國企業如何規避制裁。至於 Mauerberger，他的洗黑錢網絡在 2026 年 3 月開始爆破，泰國、新加坡和美國政府的執法部門相繼出手，或通緝他，或凍結他以及相關人等的資產，或展開調查。Whale Hunting 指 Mauerberger 逃離泰國之後，去過中東的洗黑錢中心迪拜 (Dubai) 以及跟泰國沒有引渡協議的西非國家賽席爾 (Seychelles)，然後藏身於超級遊艇，再把訊號系統關掉，人和船消失於印度洋。
從受害國家（馬來西亞或泰國）的老百姓的角度看，劉特佐 (Jho Low) 和 Benjamin Mauerberger 都是替權貴做壞事的外國人。劉特佐 (Jho Low) 的故事詳見 Whale Hunting (Part 2)，發表日期：2026 年 1 月 17 日。
但兩個故事有不同之處，分别在於錢的來源及去向。
泰國傳媒把 Benjamin Mauerberger 形容為 “the Jho Low of Thailand"，但他跟劉特佐 (Jho Low) 不同。劉特佐 (Jho Low) 偷取來自馬來西亞主權基金的錢，然後透過不同的管道轉移至不同國家。Mauerberger 把來自柬埔寨詐騙園以及其他犯罪活動（例如：投資騙局）的收入用來收購或入股不同行業（金融，能源和傳媒）的公司，而那些公司立足泰國和新加坡。根據網媒 Whale Hunting 的調查報導，洗錢工具也包括加密貨幣。這種商業模式似陳志（提示：太子集團），對不對？
案情顯示，泰國的政商界被 Mauerberger 的網絡深度滲透，Benjamin Mauerberger 的人脈直達泰國政府最高層。曾經否認跟他有聯繫的泰國財政部副部長 Vorapak Tanyawong 因為 Whale Hunting 的調查報導而辭職。泰國前總理他信 (Thaksin Shinawatra) 是 Benjamin Mauerberger 的保護者，二人會面的照片可以在 Whale Hunting 的網站找到。
眾所周知，他信 (Thaksin Shinawatra) 是泰國政壇的重量級人物，下台之後依然有能力把妹妹 (Yingluck Shinawatra 英拉·欽那瓦) 和女兒 (Paetongtarn Shinawatra 貝東丹·欽那瓦) 扶上總理之位。重量級人物涉嫌賣國，說明泰國的政治制度出了嚴重問題，不但無法制止腐敗行為，而且被新興的犯罪產業鏈（詐騙園）以及背後的中國勢力滲透，後果嚴重。至於他信 (Thaksin Shinawatra) 及其家族成員是否會被追究責任，最终導致泰國政壇大洗牌，有待觀察。
此外， Mauerberger 也搭上柬埔寨前總理洪森 (Hun Sen)，把來自柬埔寨的錢注入泰國，收購多間公司。換言之，他同時服務不只一個東南亞政治人物，是名副其實的「超級聯繫人」。萬一你不知道柬埔寨和泰國的恩怨情仇，還有他信女兒 (Paetongtarn Shinawatra 貝東丹·欽那瓦) 為什麼被解除其總理職務，請上網。表面上的原因，是貝東丹在電話對話中對柬埔寨前領導人洪森 (Hun Sen) 示弱，稱呼對方「叔叔」，而那段電話錄音被公開。貝東丹是否中計，自己想。Mauerberger 能夠同時替他信和洪森做事，說明他有手段，是厲害角色。
Whale Hunting 這樣總結：
The hammer just dropped on one of the largest money-laundering operations in history. A South African kingpin used blns from scam centers, drugs, and human trafficking to buy a country. $1B seized so far — and it’s just the start. Meet Benjamin Mauerberger, the new face of global crime.
Mauerberger is being called the "Jho Low of Thailand," but his play was more dangerous. While Low stole from a sovereign fund and sent the money out, Mauerberger did the reverse: he laundered billions in criminal cash into the very plumbing of the state.
Our latest investigation looks at the Mauerberger network not as a story about money being siphoned out of a state, but about criminal proceeds moving inward to buy the state’s infrastructure. It is a piece about intermediaries, holding companies, political fixers, and the slow purchase of power through assets that look boring until you understand who controls them.
因為洗錢的過程中有新加坡的基金經理參與，新加坡的媒體有報導和跟進 Mauerberger 的故事，執法部門也凍結了他的資產。美國的 Department of Homeland Security 也對他展開調查。原因？詐騙園的受害者包括美國人。
以下 LinkedIn 貼文來自一位從事合規 (Compliance) 工作的新加坡女士（忘了記錄她的名字）。她看完相關的報導後，在 LinkedIn 發文，寫下她的觀察，精準地概括此案的性質及基本元素。她以 ecosystem 及 architecture 形容 Mauerberger 的洗錢網絡，也分析此案對金融機構的合規部門所帶來的挑戰：
But the real story goes deeper than the headlines:
This isn’t just a compliance failure. It is an ecosystem at play.
Let's trace the architecture:
→ Scam compounds in Cambodia and Thailand generate billions from
victims
→ A licensed Singapore fund manager provides the "legitimacy
layer"
→ Thai blue-chip stocks get flipped through complex, multi-party
deals
→ Politically connected tycoons offer protection
→ Dirty money comes out clean
Each node needs the others. The scammers need the fund manager. The fund manager needs the stock market access. The whole machine needs the political cover.
This isn't just about gatekeepers who failed to ask questions. This is about enablers who may have been the infrastructure itself.
After the $3 billion Fujian-linked scandal in 2023, we have now learned something: the money gets cleaned through corporate layers before banks ever see it. Now they're going upstream. Targeting the licensed professionals who give dirty money a clean suit.
This is the shift we need to understand.
Rules don’t stop financial crime. People do.
And people also enable it.
Every Compliance professional, every fund manager, every licensed gatekeeper, we're either part of the solution or part of the solution architecture. There's no room for neutrality anymore.
When you look at your own organisation, can you see where it fits in the ecosystem? Not just what you're preventing, but what you might be enabling?
Mauerberger 的故事還有另一個角度，就是為禍東南多國的詐騙園區背後所隱藏的中國勢力。Mauerberger 所清洗的黑錢來自柬埔寨的詐騙園以及其他犯罪活動（例如：投資騙局）。根據 Whale Hunting 的報導，那些詐騙園 Guarded by the Chinese mafia，即是有中國勢力的參與或保護。從美國的角度來看，如果泰國成為下一個被中國勢力所滲透甚至是控制的國家，變成下一塊倒下的骨牌（提示：Domino Effect 骨牌效應），會影響東南亞的權力均衡。在中美關係劍拔弩張的日子，如果泰國被來自中國的黑暗勢力（提示：陳志+太子集團）所吞噬或控制，是美國不願意見到的事。以特朗普 (Donald Trump) 的作風，美國是否會坐視不理，自己想。
二戰結束之後，東南亞是中美兩強相遇以及互動的地方，部份東南亞國家嘗試在中美之間玩平衡，同時跟中美保持溝通，表面上維持友好關係，但是不會過度傾向任何一方。新加坡和泰國都是玩平衡，但是手段不同。今年4月初，泰國軍方帶領外媒進入已經被搗破的詐騙園（位於泰國和柬埔寨的邊境），讓外媒的鏡頭拍下那些寫在牆上的中文口號（只要結果，不要理由）以及假的中國公安派出所（佈景和製服），讓觀眾明白是中國勢力在邊境地區做壞事。同一時間，泰國派出跟中國政府關係良好的詩琳通公主訪華，中國派出外交部長王毅接待，鏡頭前美言一番。這一招，成功地令中國政府封口。這種玩法，廣東話叫「一啖砂糖一啖屎」，高明。泰國人玩平衡，並非今日的事。早在荷里活電影《國王與我》 (The King and I) (1956) 所描述的年代 （十九世紀中），泰國王室已經跟西方列強周旋，跟洋人玩平衡，然後輪到二戰時期席捲東南亞的日軍，結果泰國成為唯一一個沒有被日軍佔領的東南亞國家。欲知詳情，請研究泰國歷史。
回到今日。如果你把詐騙園犯罪產業鏈放置於地緣政治風險的框架中，你會見到犯罪活動背後的大國角力。面對當前局勢，東南亞小國（例如：泰國和新加坡）一方面要防止犯罪產業鏈落地生根和擴大規模，另一方面要在中美之間玩平衡，即是不斷調整定位。Benjamin Mauerberger（假名：Ben Smith）和劉特佐 (Jho Low) 的故事，不只是一個國家（馬來西亞或泰國）的執法部門如何追捕在逃的跨國洗黑錢網絡的靈魂人物那麼簡單，背後牽涉大國角力，這是東南亞國家無法避免的課題。
以下提供的參考資料依時序排列，比較近期的放前面，比較舊的放後面。大部份資料來自 Whale Hunting 的網站，少部份來自亞洲區的英語傳媒。假設你順序讀完，你會明白中國外交部長王毅為何要在今年4月下旬出訪泰國和柬埔寨。
延伸閱讀／參考資料：
The Mauerberger Spider
Web: How a Billion-Dollar Scam Network Captured a State
Whale Hunting
Apr 10 2026
Contributors
Tom Wright
Bradley Hope
Excerpt: Most financial crimes involve stealing a nation's wealth and hiding it abroad. The Mauerberger "Spider Web" is the reverse: it is an inward occupation, using billions in criminal proceeds to buy the licensed brokerages, energy reserves, and media networks that form the state's own internal organs.
In late February, a superyacht called the Wanderlust slipped out of Abu Dhabi and turned off its transponder. The vessel – 85 meters long, worth $100 million, built by SilverYachts in Perth – squeezed through the Strait of Hormuz just before regional conflict shut down the passage, then vanished into the Indian Ocean. Its owner, a 47-year-old South African named Benjamin Mauerberger, was running from arrest warrants in Thailand, a $124 million asset freeze in Singapore, and an investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Over the previous two years, a Whale Hunting investigation had exposed what authorities now describe as one of the largest money-laundering networks in Southeast Asian history. The money came from Cambodian scam compounds – industrial-scale cybercrime operations where victims are lured into fake investment platforms and, in many cases, scammed by people who themselves are held as slave labor. The proceeds were laundered through a web of Singaporean fund managers, European holding companies, and Thai political fixers, then used to buy pieces of Thailand's national infrastructure: a licensed brokerage, the advertising arm of Bangkok's Skytrain system, and a 20 percent stake in a major energy company positioned to develop $300 billion in undeveloped oil and gas reserves in the Gulf of Thailand.
We have seen this pattern before. When we helped expose the 1MDB scandal – first through the Wall Street Journal and later in the book Billion Dollar Whale – the central figure was Jho Low, a 28-year-old Malaysian playboy who orchestrated the theft of $4.5 billion from his country's sovereign wealth fund. Low used Goldman Sachs bonds, Singapore shell companies, and political protection from Prime Minister Najib Razak to siphon the money outward. The proceeds bought a $250 million superyacht, Hollywood blockbusters, Manhattan penthouses, and masterpieces by Picasso and Monet. Thai media have already started calling Mauerberger "the Jho Low of Thailand."
Mauerberger, however, did not loot a sovereign fund like Low. He used criminal proceeds to buy the infrastructure of the state itself – the brokerage that clears trades, the media company that shapes public perception, the energy asset that will develop national resources. 1MDB was extraction: stealing public money and sending it abroad. The Mauerberger Spider Web is the reverse: laundering criminal money inward, embedding it so deeply in the economy that removing it would damage the host.
（推介原因： Tom Wright 和 Bradley Hope 是前華爾街日報記者，擅長調查報導，長期跟進馬來西亞「一馬弊案」(1MDB Scandal) ，之後創立網媒 Whale Hunting，繼續跟進「一馬弊案」(1MBD Scandal) 以及尋找關鍵人物劉特佐 (Jho Low) 的下落。Whale Hunting 在 2025 年 7 月爆出獨家新聞，指劉特佐 (Jho Low) 用假身份匿藏在上海，指導中國企業如何避開西方世界的經濟制裁。這段文字指出劉特佐 (Jho Low) 和 Benjamin Mauerberger 兩位洗黑錢大師的差異。）
Thailand snatches US$260 million from cross-border
scammers in ‘decisive’ crackdown
The latest seizure includes cash, cars and bank
deposits, bringing the total value of assets confiscated to more US$620 million
South China Morning Post
Apr 10, 2026
Excerpt: Thai authorities have seized assets worth 8.3 billion baht (US$260 million) belonging to people behind an alleged money-laundering network linked to transnational cyber scam operations in Cambodia.
The latest seizure by the Anti-Money Laundering Office included cash, cars, bank deposits and other securities, bringing the total value of assets confiscated in the widening probe to more than 20 billion baht, officials said at a briefing in Bangkok on Thursday.
The network of offenders included South African-born businessman Benjamin Mauerberger, also known as Ben Smith, Cambodian tycoon Yim Leak, and their spouses, as well as a Thai woman who carried out financial transactions on their behalf, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said at the briefing. The accused have engaged not only in scam operations but also in drug-related crimes, he said.
Thai authorities previously confiscated 68 items worth 12.1 billion baht from the group earlier this year, including land, condominiums, cars, yachts and funds in bank accounts.
Vorapak Tanyawong, a deputy finance minister in Anutin’s previous administration, resigned last year after Whale Hunting, an online investigative-journalism outlet, reported that he and his wife had financial connections to the alleged scam network.
Thai police are separately investigating a fraud case against Mauerberger, who was previously based in Bangkok but whose whereabouts are currently unknown, and plan to summon him to face charges, said Nattasak Chaowanasai, Commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau.
If he fails to show up, police will obtain an arrest warrant and request that Interpol issue a red notice – an international alert – for his arrest.
Assets obtained from the network will become state property, and will be distributed back to the victims proportionately, Anutin said. Agencies including the Royal Thai Police and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will expand their investigation and legal action will be considered against the perpetrators.
In a statement, the SEC said it would cooperate with law enforcement authorities to exchange information and track suspicious financial transactions.
Earlier, the regulator was criticised for not promptly investigating the exposure of Capital Asia Investments – a company under investigation in Singapore for suspected money laundering – in Thailand’s capital market.
（推介原因：這是香港傳媒的報導。）
AMLO
freezes THB8.3bn linked to Yim Leak-Ben Smith network
The
Nation
APRIL
09, 2026
https://www.nationthailand.com/news/general/40064867
Excerpt: AMLO says the alleged cross-border network moved tens of billions of baht through Thai and overseas accounts before recycling funds into Thai property, luxury vehicles and securities.
Thailand’s Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) has temporarily seized and frozen assets worth about THB8.269 billion linked to an alleged transnational money-laundering network involving Cambodian businessman Yim Leak and Benjamin Mauerberger, alias Ben Smith, saying the case could seriously affect Thailand’s economic system and financial stability.
Acting under Transaction Committee Order No. Y.96/2569 dated April 8, 2026, AMLO said the action covered 34 items, including six vehicles still being appraised and 28 cash, deposit and securities-account items.
Assets frozen under April 8 order
AMLO said a joint investigation with the Central Investigation Bureau found evidence linking people in the network — including Yim Leak, Virinya Yim, Ben Smith and Katreeya Beaver — to alleged predicate offences including drug crimes, human trafficking, public fraud, membership of a secret society and participation in a transnational criminal organisation.
The agency said the group was linked through complex business and financial structures to foreign entities including Capital Asia Investments Pte. Ltd., CAI Optimum Fund VCC and Opus–Chartered Issuances S.A. According to AMLO, funds were transferred from neighbouring countries into Thai accounts, sent onward to overseas accounts in transactions worth tens of billions of baht, and then cycled back into Thailand through purchases of land, houses, condominiums, luxury cars and large holdings of securities.
AMLO said the network used domestic and offshore corporate vehicles, front businesses and capital-market companies to disguise the origin of the money, obscure the beneficial owners, avoid scrutiny and evade tax. It described the pattern as systematic laundering by a transnational criminal organisation and said the case reflects a more sophisticated form of modern money laundering that will require continued international cooperation.
Singapore probe adds another layer
AMLO also pointed to regulatory action in Singapore involving Capital Asia Investments. Singapore police and the Monetary Authority of Singapore said they carried out an enforcement operation against the fund manager on March 5, 2026, arrested two directors and seized more than S$160 million from its bank and securities accounts. MAS said it found “serious control failings” in the firm’s anti-money laundering compliance, while police said intelligence suggested the company and related entities were allegedly involved in a transnational money-laundering network tied to overseas organised crime, including scams.
Who Yim Leak and Ben Smith are
Yim Leak is a Cambodian businessman identified as chairman of BIC Group and as being associated with BIC Bank Cambodia. In December, Thai authorities have already seized trading accounts connected to him, including Bangchak shares worth 6 billion baht, as part of a broader crackdown on alleged scam-linked financial flows.
Benjamin Mauerberger, better known in Thailand as Ben Smith, is the foreign businessman named in a separate March 2026 police case over alleged cross-border investment fraud and money laundering. The Central Investigation Bureau said it had obtained arrest warrants for Mauerberger and his wife, Katreeya Beaver, in a case alleging losses of more than THB1 billion
（推介原因：這是泰國傳媒的報導，有解釋 Mauerberger 的洗黑錢手法。）
Arrest warrant for Ben Smith rattles Thai
elite amid Bt1bn fraud probe
The Nation
MARCH 03, 2026
https://www.nationthailand.com/news/general/40063239
Excerpt: A further point of interest in Thai reporting is that “Ben Smith” was recently linked by Tom Wright, a Pulitzer Prize-winning US investigative journalist, to claims that he is a South African–Cambodian businessman allegedly acting as a coordinator with scammer networks connected to neighbouring countries.
Smith has also appeared in photos with several prominent Thai figures, including Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, former army commander Gen Apirat Kongsompong (known as “Big Daeng”), and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas.
Thai reporting has also raised questions about business dealings connected to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra（他信）, with images showing Capt Thammanat Prompao—Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister and chief adviser to the Kla Tham Party leader—also appearing in the same frame.
There have also been images of Thammanat with Prasert Jantararuangtong (when he served as Digital Economy and Society Minister) and Smith, linked to an MoU with a Singapore private firm on an iris-scanning project currently being examined by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI).
However, individuals appearing in photos with Smith have denied any personal relationship, saying they did not know him or were not close to him.
Smith’s name also appeared in media coverage ahead of the 2026 election, after claims circulated that Suriya Juangroongruangkit, a leading figure in Pheu Thai, had purchased a private jet from Smith’s network for several hundred million baht.
（推介原因：這是泰國傳媒的報導，列出多位跟 Mauerberger (假名：Ben Smith) 有關的政治人物。）
Thailand
seeks arrest of foreigner accused of $30 million cross-border fraud
The
Japan Times
Mar 03 2026
Excerpt: 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 $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.
Thailand's caretaker Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul — who told reporters in December that he knew Smith "but was not close" to him — said 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.
（推介原因：這是日本傳媒的報導。）
The Deputy Minister, His Son, and the $100 Million
Superyacht
Whale Hunting
Mar 25, 2026
Contributors
Bradley Hope
（推介原因：這篇 Whale Hunting 調查報導聚焦於泰國財政部副部長 Vorapak Tanyawong。他否認跟 Benjamin Mauerberger 有關，但最終辭職下台。）
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 1 billion baht ($31.8 million)," the investigation bureau said.
According to the CIB, Smith portrayed himself as an investment expert and promised returns up to 11%.
Last week, authorities moved to confiscate assets worth more than $410 million from Smith and other individuals accused of fraud, the kingdom's Anti-Money Laundering Office said.
Last year, the "Whale Hunting" investigative newsletter reported that Smith once ran a "boiler room" fraud operation from Thailand, calling him a former "two-bit scammer" who went on to become a "shadow financial kingpin."
The Bangkok Post reported that Smith and his wife left Thailand last year, citing a senior police official.
Whale Hunting
Tom Wright 的貼文
（推介原因：Tom Wright 是 Whale Hunting 的其中一位創辦人。這一篇寫 Benjamin Mauerberger 啟動逃亡計劃，同時放售在美國的物業。）
The Great Yacht Swap: Inside Mauerberger’s Escape to
the Seychelles
Whale Hunting
Mar 12 2026
Contributors
Bradley Hope
https://whalehunting.projectbrazen.com/the-great-yacht-swap-mauerberger-escape-seychelles/
（推介原因：Bradley Hope是 Whale Hunting 的其中一位創辦人。這一篇同樣寫 Benjamin Mauerberger 的逃亡之旅。）
Singapore
Police Act Against the Mauerberger Network
Whale Hunting
Mar 09, 2026
Contributors
Tom Wright
https://whalehunting.projectbrazen.com/singapore-police-act-against-the-mauerberger-network/
Two directors of Capital Asia Investments arrested
over suspected money laundering offences
Alessia Mah
The Straits Times（新加坡海峽時報）
Mar 09, 2026
Excerpt: Two directors of a fund management company have been arrested over suspected money laundering offences and suspected failure to comply with financial services requirements.
The company, Capital Asia Investments, also had more than $160 million of assets in bank and securities accounts seized.
This follows joint enforcement operations against the company conducted by the police and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on March 5, the authorities said in a joint statement on March 9.
MAS has been reviewing Capital Asia Investments and its activities after receiving information about possible unlawful activities by the company, the statement said.
Separately, the police received financial intelligence from the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office regarding the alleged involvement of Capital Asia Investments and its related entities in a transnational money laundering network.
The police then commenced investigations, which are ongoing, and engaged foreign counterparts for information and assistance as the proceeds of crime were allegedly derived from overseas organised crime activities, including scams.
The company was in the spotlight in September 2025 for flipping shares of Thai blue-chip counters and other listed firms through a series of complex deals, The Business Times reported.
（推介原因：《新加坡海峽時報》的報導。）
The Aman Connection: How a Transnational Fugitive
Became a Pillar of Dubai’s Most Elite Address
Whale Hunting
Mar 4 2026
Contributors
Tom Wright
（推介原因：Whale Hunting 的調查報導，Benjamin
Mauerberger 把犯罪收入注入杜拜的物業投資項目。）
Thai Deputy PM Denies Everything, Threatens
Billion-Baht Lawsuits: We’re Publishing It All
Whale Hunting
Oct 6 2025
Contributors
Bradley Hope
Excerpt: There’s something darkly comedic about what’s happening in Thailand right now. Deputy Prime Minister Thammanat Prompao is threatening to weaponize Interpol’s Red Notice system against journalists (including Whale Hunting’s Tom Wright) and lawmakers who dare question his relationship with Benjamin Mauerberger. Yes, that’s right – a sitting government minister is suggesting he’ll use the international fugitive alert system designed to catch terrorists and murderers to go after people who dare to ask inconvenient questions.
The irony is rich. Mauerberger himself – the South African criminal at the center of our $1.5 billion money laundering investigation – has been calling for the OCCRP (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project) and other investigative bodies to look into our reporting. Now Thammanat is making similar threats, except with the added absurdity of invoking Interpol Red Notices as if they’re parking tickets he can hand out to annoying journalists.
While these men trade legal threats and denials, real people are being destroyed. The scam centers in Cambodia that Mauerberger’s network allegedly launders money for cost American victims $10 billion annually – that’s retirees losing their life savings to romance scams, lonely people catfished into bankruptcy, families watching their loved ones spiral into financial ruin. Every yacht, private plane and mansion acquired by the Mauerberger network happens against a backdrop of human trafficking victims forced to run these scams from fortified compounds.
In an explosive interview with Thai media, Thammanat denied everything about his relationship with Mauerberger while simultaneously threatening billion-baht lawsuits against anyone linking him to the fugitive. The denials are fascinating in their specificity – and what they leave unsaid. [Note: Until this article, we had never mentioned Thammanat's name and have made no allegations against him.]
What We Reported vs. What He Claims
Our Investigation Found:
- Photograph of Thammanat at a meeting in Bangkok with Mauerberger and former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra. [Although we never mentioned Thammanat, Thai journalists identified him in this photo and he confirmed his presence]
- Mauerberger fled Thailand by private jet on September 29 while under investigation
- The network Mauerberger runs is worth an estimated $1.5 billion, laundering money from Cambodian scam centers and casino
- Thammanat’s legal adviser filed defamation suits against MP Rangsiman Rome for exposing these connections
Thammanat Now Claims:
- He has “no close relationship” with Mauerberger
- Any meetings were merely “dramatizing an act of goodness”
- He will file “multiple criminal and civil lawsuits” seeking billions in damages
- He already has 100+ defamation cases filed, with 270 more pending
Thammanat’s Denials
In recent days, Thammanat addressed his relationship with Mauerberger. Here’s what he said:
On His Relationship with Mauerberger:
“I don’t have any close relationship with Ben Smith [Mauerberger’s alias]. We’ve met at social events, charity functions. That’s the extent of it. These allegations are completely fabricated.”
On the Photos with Benjamin Mauerberger:
“Yes, there are photos. But attending an event doesn’t mean you’re involved in someone’s business. I attend hundreds of events. This is normal for someone in my position.”
His Threat to Critics:
“Don’t come playing games with me – your mouth is
brave, but your legs will shake. I have filed over 100 defamation cases
already, with 270 more being prepared in Phayao province. Anyone spreading
these lies will face legal consequences.”
On Media Coverage:
“The media reporting this is spreading fake news. They will face legal action too. I’m not just threatening – I’m taking action. The damages will be in the billions of baht.”
（推介原因：Whale Hunting 的調查報導，提供 Benjamin Mauerberger 跟泰國前總理他信（Thaksin Shinawatra）以及副總理 Thammanat Prompao 會面的照片。）
Indicted Crypto
Firm KuCoin and a Thaksin Ally Allegedly Built a Money-Laundering Network
Across Southeast Asia
Sep
16 2025
Contributors
Tom
Wright
Whale
Hunting
（推介原因：Whale
Hunting 的調查報導，指出泰國前總理他信為洗錢網路提供保護，而洗錢工具包括加密貨幣。）
Exposed:
The $1.5B Money Laundering Network Behind Thailand's Shinawatra Dynasty
Whale
Hunting
Sep
11, 2025
Contributors
Tom Wright
Excerpt: Inside the $1.5B shadow empire: How convicted criminal Benjamin Mauerberger became the financial fixer for Thailand's Shinawatra（他信）dynasty, operating from Cambodia's crime hubs to Manhattan penthouses—and why the US is watching closely.
In a world where political dynasties and global finance collide, a story is unfolding that exposes the secret mechanics of power—and the high-stakes geopolitical battle that rages beneath the surface. It begins not in the halls of government, but aboard a superyacht, with a meeting that marked the return of Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Prime Minister and patriarch of Thailand’s most powerful political family, to the world stage. Yet, what the public didn't know was who truly owned the yacht – or the darker purpose behind the global network it represents.
This is the story of Benjamin Mauerberger, a mysterious figure who, despite a past shrouded in crime, became the indispensable financial fixer for the country's ruling dynasty. Our investigation reveals how this convicted criminal, operating under a web of aliases, built a shadow empire of companies and properties valued at an estimated $1.5 billion. From the "boiler rooms" of Bangkok to a $20 million luxury penthouse on New York’s Billionaire’s Row and a $100 million super yacht, this is a network that has placed itself directly on the U.S. government’s radar.
For two years, we've been tracking this criminal enterprise, uncovering a sinister new breed of transnational financial operator. Our reporting shows that Mauerberger’s money-laundering operations are rooted in Cambodia – a notorious hub for fraud and human trafficking – which has put him under scrutiny by U.S. law enforcement. He leveraged this influence to acquire a new $60 million private jet for Thaksin and, more recently, a massive stake in a Thai energy company. But this move, intended to secure a new fortune, sparked a furious backlash from a powerful insider that ultimately led to Thaksin's downfall.
This deep dive into a global fugitive's rise is more than just a story of foreign politics and hidden wealth. It’s an urgent warning about how a network that spans from Bangkok penthouses to New York apartments can operate with impunity. For the U.S., the stakes couldn't be higher: having already ceded Cambodia to China’s orbit, they fear Thailand is next in a dangerous geopolitical domino effect. The U.S. now watches Mauerberger’s movements closely, believing his network is a financial conduit not just for a political dynasty, but for a competing superpower. We've pieced together this complex puzzle through hundreds of documents, corporate records, and sources across the globe.
（推介原因：Whale
Hunting 的分析，從地緣政治的角度來看。結論：如果泰國被來自中國的黑暗勢力所吞噬或控制，是美國不願意見到的事。）
Thaksin's Fixer and a Cambodian Empire's Push to
Control Thai Energy
Whale Hunting
Sept 4 2025
Contributors
Tom Wright
Key Points:
- Last week, we revealed how former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra（他信）built a $2.5-3.5 billion shadow empire through African mines, Cambodian casinos, and offshore shells – all while using convicted criminal Benjamin Mauerberger as his personal fixer for a new $60 million private jet.
- Now, we're pulling back the curtain on Mauerberger's wider operation: a sophisticated network of front companies that have quietly acquired massive stakes in Thailand's state-connected energy sector. Through Singapore-based funds and mysterious Thai shell companies, hundreds of millions of dollars are flowing from Cambodia's political elite directly into the heart of Thailand's economy.
- The money trail leads straight to the inner circle of the Hun Sen（洪森）dynasty. Our investigation shows Mauerberger is the silent partner of Yim Leak, the Cambodian tycoon whose sister married Hun Sen's son. This Cambodian-backed network now holds a 20% stake in Bangchak, Thailand's second-largest energy company – putting it in direct confrontation with the Thai state's 35% ownership.
- This is a story about how dirty money finds clean havens, how convicted criminals become power brokers, and how a network that spans from Bangkok penthouses to $20 million New York apartments operates with impunity. When the dust settles, the question isn't just who controls Thailand's energy sector – it's whether anyone can stop this new breed of transnational financial operator.
- The criminal South African fixer for former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is at the center of a web of front companies across Asia. This network has been spending hundreds of millions of dollars to buy up stakes in prominent Thai firms, raising serious questions about the source of the funds and their ultimate purpose.
- Benjamin Mauerberger, a 47-year-old with a 20-year history of stock scams and a long list of Western authorities who want to arrest him, has spent the last decade burrowing deep into the inner circle of Cambodia's political elite. He is a silent partner to Yim Leak, the powerful son of a former Cambodian deputy prime minister who controls a financial and property empire, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the arrangement.
（推介原因：Whale Hunting 的調查報導，聚焦 Benjamin
Mauerberger 跟柬埔寨前總理洪森 (Hun
Sen) 的關係。Benjamin Mauerberger 把來自柬埔寨的錢注入泰國，收購多間公司。換言之，他同時服務不只一個政治人物，而那些政治人物之間又有很多恩怨，說明他手段厲害。）
Wikipedia：Benjamin Mauerberger
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Mauerberger
（推介原因：Benjamin Mauerberger 的生平資料，犯罪紀錄有如水蛇春。）
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Whale Hunting (Part 2)
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節錄：「一馬弊案」(1MDB Scandal) 關鍵人物劉特佐 (Jho Low) 以偽造的澳洲護照隱藏身份，使用虛假的希臘名字 Veis Constantinos Achilles 匿藏於上海。消息來源是 Whale Hunting，發表日期是 2025 年 7 月 18 日。照片來源是 Whale Hunting 創辦人 Bradley Hope 的 LinkedIn 帳號。這張照片曾經被個別香港媒體轉發，但是沒有註明出處。原因？自己想。
Kleptocracy（盜賊統治）
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https://xiaoshousha.blogspot.com/2009/01/blog-post_11.html
節錄：自從 2006 年 9 月被推翻之後，他信一直流亡英國，在當地擁有物業。08 年年底英國政府頒令禁止他入境，他信於是跟老婆在香港辦離婚，好讓她可以合法地處理海外資產。英國佬老謀深算，放長線釣大魚，先吸納他信的資產，然後等待時機跟貪官分身家，反正大家都是賊（去過大英搏物館的人都明白此話何解），你落難我分贓，唔駛同你客氣。下台之後，他信也間中在香港的高級場所出現。據報導，08 年年底他信的女兒動用 4500 萬港元，在香港購入豪宅（何文田京士柏山 19 號屋，京士柏山的發展商是恒基地產）。
南洋幫（三）
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http://xiaoshousha.blogspot.hk/2014/02/blog-post.html
節錄：泰國華僑另一個比較有利的條件，是泰國政府跟中國大陸關係良好，返大陸投資經商，不怕會被泰國政府找麻煩，跟來自其他南洋國家的華僑比較起來，沒有那麼多的顧慮。大陸官方傳媒對泰國皇室也很客氣，筆下頗多讚頌之詞。其實泰國並非特別厚待中國，只是一貫地有禮。泰國人擁有來自佛家的智慧，知道自己的位置，找到自己的定位，不會像中國人那麼患得患失，表面自大，內裡自卑。
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Boiler Room
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https://xiaoshousha.blogspot.com/2020/09/boiler-room.html
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