The civil court has ordered the temporary seizure and freezing of assets belonging to "Yim Leak, Ben Smith, Chen Zhi, and Kok An" during the trial of a public fraud case involving a scammer network, with total assets valued at more than 13.074 billion baht.
On 27 February 2026, Mr. Wichaya Neethitham, Assistant Secretary-General and spokesperson of the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO), announced that following the second transaction committee meeting of 2026 held on 11 February 2026, the committee resolved for the AMLO Secretary-General to submit a petition to prosecutors to request a court order declaring the assets forfeited to the state. After reviewing requests to revoke the temporary seizure and freezing of assets from interested parties, there was insufficient weight to accept that the seized and frozen assets were unrelated to criminal acts. Subsequently, on 17 February 2026, Mr. Thepsu Bowornchotidara, AMLO Secretary-General, assigned officials to send the case files to prosecutors at the Special Case Office, Office of the Attorney General, to consider petitioning the court to declare assets forfeited to the state in four major cases valued at approximately 13.074 billion baht.
Currently, prosecutors have submitted petitions to the civil court to obtain orders declaring the assets forfeited to the state in these four major cases. The civil court has examined the evidence presented by prosecutors during the inquiry stage.
There is reasonable cause to believe that transfers, sales, or other dispositions of assets related to the criminal acts may have occurred. Therefore, the civil court ordered the temporary seizure and freezing of these assets until further court orders are issued, pursuant to Section 55 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act B.E. 2542 (1999). The AMLO Secretary-General is responsible for carrying out the seizure, freezing, and safekeeping of the assets and notifying related parties. Details are as follows.
1. Case of Ms. Tangthai, involving Mr. Leak Yim, Ms. Wirinya Mr. Smith Ben, and Ms. Katriya and associates. The civil court accepted this as case number F 31/2569. On 26 February 2026, a court order was issued to temporarily seize and freeze assets until further court orders, based on the asset list provided by AMLO to prosecutors, valued at approximately 12.123 billion baht.
2. Case of Mr. Chen Zhi and associates. The civil court accepted this as case number F 25/2569. On 25 February 2026, a court order was issued to temporarily seize and freeze assets until further orders, based on the asset list provided by AMLO to prosecutors, valued at approximately 345 million baht.
3. Case of Mr. Kok An and associates. The civil court accepted this as case number F 29/2569. On 25 February 2026, a court order was issued to temporarily seize and freeze assets until further orders, based on the asset list provided by AMLO to prosecutors, valued at approximately 560 million baht.
4. Case of Mr. Ua Angun and associates. The civil court accepted this as case number F 20/2569. On 24 February 2026, a court order was issued to temporarily seize and freeze assets until further orders, based on the asset list provided by AMLO to prosecutors, valued at approximately 46 million baht.
If the assets ordered seized or frozen by the court in these four cases are unsuitable for safekeeping or their maintenance would impose a burden on the government—such as vehicles or yachts—the AMLO Secretary-General may order these assets to be auctioned and hold the proceeds in place of the original assets, in accordance with Section 57, paragraph two, of the Anti-Money Laundering Act B.E. 2542 (1999).
Furthermore, for the cases mentioned, if there are victims of the underlying crimes, AMLO will gather evidence as required by law and submit it to prosecutors to petition the court to order that money or assets from these cases be returned or compensated to the victims instead of being forfeited to the state.