BANGKOK, Oct 28 — Thai authorities have vowed to seize more than US$1 billion (RM4.08 billion) in assets from a group accused of laundering proceeds from South-east Asia-based scam syndicates.

A criminal court issued arrest warrants yesterday for the alleged ring leader, South African Ben Smith, his Thai wife Cattaliya Beevor, Cambodian businessman Yim Leak and four others, police said.

Senior police investigator Ratthachin Jermsap told AFP that Smith and Yim Leak were believed to have left Thailand.

Media reports have previously linked Smith, also known as Benjamin Mauerberger, to transnational scam operations in Cambodia, part of a multibillion-dollar illicit industry that has ballooned in the region.