A luxury yacht was seized in Phuket as Thai authorities confiscated assets linked to an alleged transnational scam ring.

The Cayman-flagged superyacht, ATLAS, was seized by Thailand's Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) on December 23 amid a crackdown on technology-related crimes in Thailand.

AMLO had identified the yacht, worth around 26.4 million GBP, as one of the key assets involved in a large-scale online fraud case that caused more than nine billion baht (211 million GBP) in financial damages.

AMLO said the case began in 2018, with more than 90 related investigations this year.

Investigations found that the laundered funds used to purchase ATLAS had undergone layered transactions involving Thai and Cambodian proxies. The yacht was registered abroad, with a Thai national listed as the legal owner.

Authorities said that other assets linked to the same fraud network are being investigated.

AMLO said the yacht's temporary seizure is valid for up to 90 days and is a joint effort between the Anti-Money Laundering Office and the Central Investigation Bureau to block ill-gotten assets from re-entering the economy.