UK authorities have frozen a London penthouse linked to Thet Li, the man accused of being the finance chief for Prince Group. The apartment sits on the 13th floor near St James’s Park and looks toward Buckingham Palace, according to The Times.
The freezing order was added to the Land Registry record after a Foreign Office investigation. Li, 39, bought the property for £8.9 million in 2022. That was before the recent wave of sanctions and asset seizures tied to Prince Group, a Cambodian conglomerate that UK and US officials describe as a front for large-scale online fraud. It was not immediately clear whether Li has responded to the freezing order.
Who Is Thet Li?
The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Li in October 2025. It called him a de facto illicit finance CFO and said he was involved in bulk cash smuggling and managing dirty money. The UK followed in March under its global human rights regime. British officials cited his links to Chen Zhi and Prince Group. The government says the group’s scam centers in Cambodia subject workers to forced labor and cruel treatment.
UK authorities also call Li a key lieutenant to the group’s leader. They say he managed Prince Group’s international financial network, The Times reported. That network allegedly helped move money from online fraud operations, including romance and investment scams known as pig butchering. The United Nations estimates more than 100,000 trafficked workers are forced to work in those operations, the newspaper said.
Other London Assets Frozen
The freezing orders do not stop with Li’s penthouse. They also cover a £12 million mansion in St John’s Wood and a £100 million office building in the City of London tied to Prince Group chairman Chen Zhi, according to the report. Chen was arrested in Cambodia and extradited to China.
Assets linked to Chen’s alleged second in command, Wu An Ming, have also been frozen. Those include a £30 million Holland Park mansion and a £53 million Belgravia townhouse registered to a woman alleged to be his wife. Wu was reportedly arrested in Japan in June.
Wider Crackdown
Last October, police raided two Isle of Man homes apparently owned by Li. The operation was conducted with the FBI. Prince Group held gaming licenses on the island that were allegedly used to launder proceeds of its crimes, according to The Times.
In the U.S., authorities have sought forfeiture of about $14 billion in Bitcoin tied to the group. A Washington-based Scam Center Strike Force has reported $580 million in crypto seizures and freezes. The UK has sanctioned crypto marketplace Xinbi as part of a crackdown on Southeast Asian scam centers. Interpol has called the scam compound network a global threat.
Prince Group said last year that it categorically rejects the notion that it or its chairman, Chen Zhi, has engaged in any unlawful activity.
Authorities will apply to a court on Monday to continue the seizure of Li’s watches and jewelry, valued at £10.6 million, along with £92,570 in cash.
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