Thailand hunts South African over $30M Bangkok fraud

Thai authorities issued arrest warrants this week for a South African businessman known in Bangkok’s elite circles as “Ben Smith,” accusing him and his wife of running a cross-border investment fraud scheme that allegedly stripped one victim of more than $30 million.

The warrants, approved by a criminal court Feb. 26, target Benjamin Mauerberger, 47, and his Thai wife Cattaliya Beevor, 40. Thailand’s Central Investigation Bureau announced the move Monday, charging the pair with joint fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering, with alleged damages exceeding 1 billion baht, or roughly $31.8 million.

The problem for Thai investigators: Mauerberger is believed to have already left the country.

Reports considered credible by Thai media say he departed Thailand around September 2025 and may now be in Dubai. Authorities are examining extradition options.

The fraud case stretches back a decade. According to investigators, Mauerberger presented himself in 2016 as an expert in the Thai stock market to a foreign investor looking to expand into Thailand. What followed, police say, was a long and methodical buildup of false credibility.

The victim was gradually steered into a series of investments, including shares in PACE Development Corporation, real estate projects, a private jet purchase and an energy venture allegedly tied to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand. Investigators say the suspects used written profit guarantees, post-dated cheques and references to influential connections to keep the money flowing. The promised projects never delivered. The funds, police say, were diverted.

Six locations in central Bangkok were searched Feb. 27. Police seized 13 items including computers, mobile phones and financial documents. The Anti-Money Laundering Office, known as AMLO, separately obtained a civil court order to temporarily freeze assets connected to broader networks linked to Mauerberger, a freeze covering more than 13 billion baht across four separate scam network cases.

Mauerberger’s wife, Beevor, is a major shareholder in several Thai-listed companies, including Bangchak Corporation. Thai authorities seized and froze her assets in December 2015 under money laundering laws, a fact that adds a long prelude to the current charges.

The case has rattled Bangkok at a level that goes beyond the fraud itself. Mauerberger cultivated connections across Thailand’s business and political establishment. He appeared in photos with Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, former army commander Gen. Apirat Kongsompong and other prominent figures. When Anutin was asked in December whether he knew the man, he confirmed it, but added that he was “not close” to him.

On Monday, Anutin backed the warrants without hesitation. Anyone breaking the law and harming the public or the economy, he told reporters, would face consequences “regardless of who they are.” He said he had not interfered in the investigation and would only be briefed after operations were completed.

The prime minister’s measured distance from the case reflects the political sensitivity surrounding it. Mauerberger’s name surfaced in coverage of the upcoming 2026 election after claims that a senior Pheu Thai figure, Suriya Juangroongruangkit, had purchased a private jet through Smith’s network. Those reports were later clarified: Suriya co-invested with family members, contributing around 30 million baht, with the remainder coming from his brother and other relatives.

Mauerberger’s reach extended well beyond Thailand. US authorities have classified him as a high-risk individual allegedly linked to international scam networks and money laundering. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tom Wright publicly linked him to Cambodia-based grey capital networks that have become one of the region’s most persistent criminal industries. Scrutiny of his activities also reached Australia, New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Mauerberger and his associates have denied wrongdoing. His supporters in Bangkok have long pointed to his ability to attract foreign capital and provide private aviation services to Thailand’s wealthy.

That reputation, built over years of high-level socialising and deal-making across Southeast Asia, is now the subject of a criminal investigation. The warrants are active. The assets are frozen. The man himself is gone.