WHALE HUNTING

CRISIS OF COMPLICITY: Secret Docs Expose Covert Bank Takeover Protected by Thailand's Financial Elite

New documents reveal how Benjamin Mauerberger and KuCoin illegally seized control of Thai investment bank Finansia X -- with help from Thailand's financial elite. Authorities refuse to act.

Man with short dark hair in a black suit, white shirt and black tie, against a plain light background
Varah Sucharitakul, vice chairman of Finansia

Welcome to Whale Hunting, where we follow the money from Southeast Asian scam centers to Manhattan penthouses, exposing the criminal networks that cost Americans billions each year.

Last year, Benjamin Mauerberger, a South African money launderer and central node in a Southeast Asian criminal scam network, boasted to a colleague: "We've bought our own investment bank." Mauerberger's illegal control of a powerful Thai financial group, Finansia X PCL, should have been a national emergency.

But almost two months after Whale Hunting reported on the Mauerberger network's illegal takeover of the Thai investment bank and securities company, authorities continue to protect those involved. Mauerberger's network — which launders billions of dollars from Southeast Asian scam centers — still holds a controlling shareholding in Finansia X, even though Mauerberger himself has fled his Bangkok penthouse for Dubai.

Now, new documents have emerged, revealing the covert takeover plan and dramatically increasing the need for Thai authorities to act.


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For the wider investigation, read our guide to Benjamin Mauerberger, the records and the responses.

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