Key facts
- UK authorities froze a London penthouse valued at £8.9 million belonging to Thet Li.
- Thet Li is alleged to be the finance chief of Prince Group.
- Authorities will seek to continue the seizure of Li's watches and jewelry, valued at £10.6 million, and £92,570 in cash.
- The U.S. has sought forfeiture of approximately $14 billion in Bitcoin tied to Prince Group.
- Prince Group denies any wrongdoing.
UK authorities have frozen a London penthouse valued at £8.9 million that belongs to Thet Li, who is alleged to be the finance chief of the Prince Group. The Times reported Sunday that Li, 39, purchased the apartment in 2022. Authorities placed a freezing order on its Land Registry record following an investigation by the Foreign Office.
Authorities will ask a court on Monday to continue the seizure of Li's watches and jewelry, valued at £10.6 million, and £92,570 in cash. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Li in October 2025, describing him as a "de facto illicit finance CFO" involved in "bulk cash smuggling and managing dirty money." The UK sanctioned him in March under its global human rights regime, citing his links to Chen Zhi and Prince Group, whose Cambodian scam centers it says subject workers to forced labor and cruel treatment.
UK authorities also accuse Li of being a "key lieutenant" to the group's leader who "managed the Prince Group's international financial network," according to The Times. Prince Group is described as a front for "industrial scale" online fraud, including romance and investment scams, with United Nations estimates suggesting over 100,000 trafficked workers are forced to work in its operations.
Freezing orders 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. 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. Wu was reportedly arrested in June in Japan.
Prince Group said last year that it "categorically rejects the notion that it or its chairman, Chen Zhi, has engaged in any unlawful activity."