SA’s Benjamin Mauerberger embroiled in ‘Thailand state capture’ accusations and billion-dollar scam probes

Power, politics, and “pig butchering”, which means priming victims before conning them out of big money – these themes are swirling around South African-born Benjamin Mauerberger, also known as Ben Smith, who faces money laundering and fraud accusations, plus State Capture-style suspicions in Thailand, where he is a wanted man.

The United States has also flagged him in its efforts to tackle transnational gangs operating mass online fraud schemes and controlling scam centres.

In a nutshell, allegations against Mauerberger include that he infiltrated the Thai government (think along the lines of what the Guptas did in South Africa) and has wealth from scam compounds.

For his part, he has said before: “I have never committed any crime.”

Scam compounds are where people around the world are either lured with promises of decent jobs or trafficked. At the compounds, they are forced into fraudulent activities to rake in money that is then laundered through businesses.

Billions of dollars are involved, and international police organisation Interpol has called scam centres a “rapidly globalising threat.”

‘Brutal treatment’ and forced lawbreaking

Last year, 23 South Africans were rescued from a cybercrime compound in Myanmar.

The International Relations and Cooperation Department said at the time: “They were subjected to brutal treatment, including intimidation, physical torture and forced labour.

“They were also compelled to engage in illicit activities, including online scams that targeted individuals worldwide.”

It is around related accusations that Mauerberger has surfaced.

Various media reports say Mauerberger is from a prominent local family, grew up in Cape Town and left South Africa after school.

His brother was involved in the wine industry.

Now, despite Mauerberger’s previous denials of wrongdoing, his name keeps cropping up in internationally significant criminal matters.

Arrests in Singapore

On Monday, 9 March 2026, the Singapore Police Force and that country’s Monetary Authority announced that it was targeting a company, Capital Asia Investments.

Two suspects were arrested, and S$160-million assets were seized.

A joint statement about this crackdown said that “serious control failings” were also found in terms of the company’s anti-money laundering requirements.

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The statement added: “Following this, the police commenced investigations and engaged foreign counterparts for information and assistance as the proceeds of crime were allegedly derived from overseas organised crime activities including scams.”

Capital Asia is reportedly part of Mauerberger’s network.

Direct action was taken against him a week before authorities in Singapore announced the Capital Asia crackdown.

Warrants in Thailand

On 2 March 2026, Thailand’s Central Investigation Bureau confirmed it had issued arrest warrants for Mauerberger and his wife, Katriya Beaver (also spelled Cattaliya Beevor).

The warrants were linked to charges of money laundering and a conspiracy to defraud others.

According to a Central Investigation Bureau statement, Mauerberger and Smith were “accused of deceiving foreign investors into investing in several projects involving stocks, real estate, and energy businesses, causing damages exceeding 1 billion baht.” (This figure equates to more than R500-million.)

Six locations were searched as part of this ongoing investigation, and items, including two desktop computers, two laptops, five cellphones and documents were seized.

The Central Investigation Bureau statement said foreign investors had lodged the complaints and that alleged fraud dating back to 2016 had been uncovered so far.

It added: “The suspects posed as investment experts, building credibility by advising victims to invest in an energy company, which they claimed was legitimate.

“Taking advantage of this trust, they subsequently persuaded victims to invest in various schemes.”

When investors became suspicious, they were told to invest in seven condominiums that would be renovated and resold for profit.

“However, the victims never received the units as agreed and discovered that the ownership had been transferred to other individuals. They therefore believe they have been deceived,” the statement said.

Daily Maverick was unable to find contact details for Mauerberger and his lawyer, who was recently quoted in Thai media as saying the case, connected to the arrest warrants, was actually a civil dispute that had been politicised.

Mass online scams

Before all this, in September last year, Mauerberger was among several individuals flagged when a Bill was introduced in the US to establish a task team “to dismantle and shut down transnational criminal syndicates perpetuating mass online scam operations against Americans.”

US authorities were determining whether he and those listed met the criteria to be sanctioned.

Also named was Chen Zhi, who may be the same person the US indicted last year.

The indictment against him explains that he headed the Prince Holding Group, a corporate conglomerate in Cambodia, that operated dozens of business entities in more than 30 countries.

“Under Chen’s direction, Prince Group made enormous profits for Chen and his associates by operating forced-labor scam compounds across Cambodia that engaged in cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes […] and used its vast network of business enterprises to launder its criminal proceeds,” the indictment said.

Victims worldwide lost billions of dollars.

‘Pig butchering’ and $60bn

A US government document about the Bill on tackling such criminality alleged that during the Covid-19 pandemic, Chinese organised crime groups started creating extremely elaborate online cryptocurrency scams.

“The most common form of such financial scam is known as ‘pig butchering’, Chinese criminal slang that describes how scammers develop a virtual relationship, inducing them to invest ever larger sums into phony platforms, serving to ‘fatten’ their victims for the slaughter,” it said.

Forced labour involving “hundreds of thousands of victims of human trafficking” was used to carry out the scams.

“These so-called ‘scam centers’ are most prevalent across Burma, Laos, and Cambodia,” it said.

“Global losses are estimated to be higher than $60,000,000,000 annually.

“The true dollar amount of losses to these scams is estimated to be much higher as many instances go unreported.” It is in this document that Mauerberger is among those listed for possible US sanctioning.

Investigative journalist Tom Wright has written extensively about him, especially his connections to Thai politics, in what is known as Project Brazen.

He said that “Mauerberger grew up in a wealthy Jewish family in Cape Town,” and ended up in Bangkok after studying “maths, languages and computer science in high school.”

In September last year, Wright wrote about “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.”

The luxury yacht and the denial

This meeting happened on a luxury yacht, the Wanderlust, owned by a company that Mauerberger ran.

Wright’s article said: “Mauerberger’s money-laundering operations are rooted in Cambodia – a notorious hub for fraud and human trafficking – which has put him under scrutiny by US 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.”

The following month, in October 2025, Mauerberger reacted to Wright’s reporting in a statement denying any wrongdoing.

“Among the most serious falsehoods are claims that I am involved in Cambodian money laundering, call-center scams, and human trafficking,” Mauerberger had said.

“I have never had and will never have, any connection to such activities.

“Equally unfounded are the insinuations linking me to issues of international relations or national security, whether economic or energy-related – particularly those between Thailand and Cambodia.”

He reserved his right to take legal action to safeguard his family’s reputation.

The journalist’s exposés

This did not deter Wright.

In December, he wrote that Mauerberger “took over a sovereign nation, armed with a flood of untraceable wealth from scam compounds enslaving thousands”.

Wright alleged Mauerberger infiltrated Thailand’s government, “not just police and politicians, but the Prime Minister’s inner circle, army generals, and financial regulators.”

The article continues: “He showered gifts on Thai politicians — millions of dollars in crypto, luxury cars, financing for political parties — and secretly acquired a controlling stake in a Thai investment bank.”

Before all this, Mauerberger had also faced legal action in another country.

Fined in New Zealand

A UK Financial Services and Markets Tribunal finding from March 2010 referred to Mauerberger.

It said that according to the New Zealand Securities Commission, he had been involved with a firm in Thailand, which “local authorities” acted against in 2001.

“In 2003, Mr Mauerberger was convicted of failing to comply with the Securities Commission summons and fined NZ$30,000.00 by the Auckland High Court.”

The finding said that Mauerberger had been scheduled to appear before the commission in January 2003 to answer questions about one of his companies and his links to another, “but he left the country and did not turn up”.

It said Mauerberger later gave undertakings to the commission.

In his October 2025 rebuttal of Wright’s reporting, Mauerberger referred to the New Zealand saga: “The investigation by relevant authorities has been concluded and determined that the matter does not constitute a criminal offense.”

Mauerberger is believed to have based himself in Dubai at some point, and it appears he has since left the city on the yacht, Wanderlust. DM