UK freezes London penthouse of alleged Prince Group finance chief Thet Li
In brief
- UK authorities froze Thet Li's London penthouse near Buckingham Palace, bought for £8.9 million in 2022.
- Freezing orders also covered assets tied to Chen Zhi and Wu An Ming, The Times reported.
- U.S. Treasury sanctioned Li in October 2025 among 146 Prince Group targets.
- The U.S. has sought forfeiture of about $14 billion in Bitcoin tied to Prince Group.
- Prince Group has denied engaging in any unlawful activity.
What was frozen
Authorities placed a freezing order on the property's Land Registry record following a Foreign Office investigation, according to The Times. It wasn't the only one. Freezing orders also covered 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 (who was arrested in Cambodia and extradited to China).
Assets linked to Wu An Ming, Chen's alleged second in command, were frozen too, including 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.
Authorities planned to 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.
The allegations
The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Li in October 2025 among 146 Prince Group 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 and Prince Group, whose Cambodian scam centers the UK says subject workers to forced labor and cruel treatment.
UK authorities accuse Li of being a "key lieutenant" to the group's leader who managed its international financial network. They describe Prince Group as a front for "industrial scale" online fraud, including the romance and investment scams known as pig butchering. The Times cited United Nations estimates that more than 100,000 trafficked workers are forced to work in the group's operations.
Police raided two Isle of Man homes apparently owned by Li last October in a joint operation with the FBI. Prince Group obtained gaming licenses on the island that were allegedly used to launder the proceeds of its crimes, per The Times.
The group denies it.
Prince Group said last year that it "categorically rejects the notion that it or its chairman, Chen Zhi, has engaged in any unlawful activity."
The Bitcoin thread
The U.S. has sought forfeiture of about $14 billion in Bitcoin tied to the group. A Washington-based Scam Center Strike Force has separately reported $580 million in crypto seizures and freezes.
The UK has also sanctioned crypto marketplace Xinbi as part of its crackdown on Southeast Asian scam centers, and Interpol has called the scam compound network a global threat.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Thet Li and what is he accused of?
Thet Li, 39, is the alleged finance chief of Prince Group. UK authorities accuse him of being a "key lieutenant" to the group's leader who managed its international financial network. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned him in October 2025, calling him a "de facto illicit finance CFO." Prince Group has denied engaging in any unlawful activity.
How is Prince Group connected to Bitcoin?
The U.S. has sought forfeiture of about $14 billion in Bitcoin tied to Prince Group. Separately, a Washington-based Scam Center Strike Force has reported $580 million in crypto seizures and freezes.
