UK Freezes $12 Million London Penthouse of Alleged Prince Group Finance Chief Thet Li

UK authorities have frozen an £8.9 million penthouse overlooking Buckingham Palace that belongs to Thet Li, the alleged finance chief of Prince Group, The Times reported on Sunday.

The freeze extends a multi-jurisdiction enforcement campaign into prime London real estate, where freezing orders now cover properties tied to the group's chairman, his alleged second-in-command and its alleged finance chief.

Li, 39, purchased the 13th-floor apartment near St James's Park in 2022 for £8.9 million, according to the report. Authorities placed a freezing order on the property's Land Registry record following a Foreign Office investigation.

At a hearing scheduled for Monday, authorities will ask a court to continue the seizure of Li's watches and jewelry, valued at £10.6 million, along with £92,570 in cash.

Sanctions and allegations

The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Li in October 2025 among 146 Prince Group-linked targets, 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.

According to The Times, UK authorities also accuse Li of being a "key lieutenant" to the group's leader who "managed the Prince Group's international financial network."

British authorities describe Prince Group as a front for "industrial scale" online fraud, including the romance and investment scams known as pig butchering — schemes in which fraudsters cultivate long-term trust with victims before steering them into fake investment platforms. Citing United Nations estimates, The Times reported that more than 100,000 trafficked workers are forced to work in the group's operations.

Prince Group-linked London assets

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, the newspaper reported. 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, including a £30 million mansion in Holland Park and a £53 million townhouse in Belgravia registered to a woman alleged to be his wife. Wu was reportedly arrested in Japan in June.

According to the report, the UK freezes now span more than £200 million in London property connected to the group's alleged leadership — underscoring the scale of assets investigators have targeted on British soil.

Last October, police raided two homes on the Isle of Man apparently owned by Li in a joint operation with the FBI. According to the report, Prince Group obtained gaming licenses on the island that were allegedly used to launder the proceeds of its crimes.

International response

The United States has sought the forfeiture of approximately $14 billion in Bitcoin tied to the group, and a Washington-based Scam Center Strike Force has reported $580 million in crypto seizures and freezes. The UK has also sanctioned the crypto marketplace Xinbi as part of a crackdown on Southeast Asian scam centers, and Interpol has called the scam compound network a global threat.

From Washington to London to the Isle of Man, the enforcement effort has converged on the group's finances, with digital assets — from the Bitcoin targeted in the US forfeiture case to the crypto marketplace Xinbi — playing a recurring role.

Prince Group has denied any wrongdoing. Last year, the group said itcategorically rejects the notion that it or its chairman, Chen Z, has engaged in any unlawful activity."

Authorities will apply to the court on Monday to continue the seizure of Li's watches, jewelry and cash. The outcome of the hearing will determine whether the seizures remain in place.