A complex web of business relationships linking Cambodian political elites, convicted international financiers, and influential Thai stakeholders is raising red flags regarding Thailand’s energy and financial security. Recent disclosures highlight how regional actors, including figures connected to Cambodia’s former leadership and controversial financier Benjamin Mauerberger, are quietly embedding themselves into critical sectors of the Thai economy.
Mauerberger, a convicted broker holding dual South African and Cambodian citizenship, has recently surfaced in several cross-border transactions. According to investigative former WSJ journalist Tom Wright, Mauerberger brokered luxury assets for Lim Yeak, chairman of Cambodia’s B.I.C. Group, a conglomerate whose interests are closely aligned with the family of former Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Wright wrote in his article at https://whalehunting.projectbrazen.com, stating that apart from private jets that Benjamin brokered to influential persons, Apex Equity Ventures Co., a Thai company, linked to B.I.C. paid $20.3 million for a Manhattan condo. This transaction has Cattaliya Beevor, which Wright claimed to be Mauerberger’s partner, involved.
Cattaliya Beevor, a prominent Thai businesswoman with holdings in domestic energy companies with a net worth of $18 million as of July 2025, according to MarketScreener. Her portfolio includes major shareholdings in several Thai-listed firms:
- Green Tech Ventures (GTV): Beevor is one of the top shareholders, holding 4.08% of the company’s shares.
- BCPG Public Company Limited: She previously controlled about 3.49% of the firm.
- Bangchak Corporation Public Company Limited: As of March 14, 2025, Beevor held about 1.22% of the company’s shares.
She is currently helping manage the Singapore-based CAI Optimum Fund VCC, which itself is a substantial investor in leading Thai entities such as VGI Public Company Limited. CAI Optimum Fund VCC is a fund managed by Capital Asia Investments Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-based fund management company, which commands a substantial 5.62% stake in BCPG Public Company Limited as of March 6, 2025. Additionally, Capital Asia Investments Pte. Ltd. also divested 4.5687% of BCP’s shares in March to Alpha Chartered Energy Company, a JV between Thai and Luxembourg investors, that was established about two months prior to the transaction.
The cross-border nexus intensifies with the presence of Yim Leak, the youngest son of a former Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and a board-level figure closely linked to Hun Sen’s family. Yim Leak chairs both B.I.C. Group and B.I.C. Cambodia Bank (BIC). BIC, a licensed commercial bank in Cambodia, directly holds a 0.33% stake in Thailand’s BCPG Public Company Limited and previously was a shareholder in Finansia X Public Company Limited (Finansia Syrus Securities). The BIC stake in Finansia X reached 9.99% before being offloaded in March to Rapidfire Technologies Limited, a Hong Kong-based company established mere weeks before the purchase, raising transparency issues.
The integration between these entities is reinforced by personal and political alliances—such as Yim Leak’s reported marriage to a Thai businesswoman who herself holds interests in several domestic companies. This pattern of cross-ownership and board relationships has fueled anxiety about foreign actors building influence within strategic Thai sectors.
Compounding these concerns, Mauerberger, despite having his Thai citizenship application denied in the past due to insufficient documentation, is reported to reside in Thailand under an advising capacity for a certain undisclosed company.
These interconnected holdings enable foreign-aligned interests to steadily expand their reach in Thai infrastructure and energy. The prospect that these entities could further increase their shareholding or collaborate with additional offshore partners could pose fresh challenges to Thailand’s energy sovereignty and financial oversight.
The pattern of overseas capital acquiring strategic equity in Thai listed firms—often through a web of holding companies and fund vehicles—raises tough questions about the longer-term security.
As scrutiny intensifies, the ability of Thai regulators to untangle the complex structures behind these investments will be a measure of how robustly the country can safeguard its energy future in the face of rising cross-border interests.
