The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday charged three Addcn Technology Co (數字科技) executives over alleged illegal financial dealings, media reported.
Prosecutors said the company, which operates online trading platforms on which people sell cars, houses, clothing and virtual treasures, made NT$18.6 billion (US$620,000) in nearly four years by allegedly violating the Act Governing Issuance of Electronic Stored Value Cards (電子票證發行管理條例), local cable TV network UBN reported.
UBN said prosecutors decided to take Addcn chairman Liao Shi-fang (廖世芳), general manager Ason Wu (吳聰賢) and board director Wang Zhen-yu (王震宇) to court because the company did not gain the Financial Supervisory Commission’s approval to allow gamers to trade prepaid game cards, virtual currencies and virtual assets from online games on its 8591.com Web site between 2009 and February last year.
The company charges a fixed 6 percent transaction fee.
If found guilty, the defendants face a minimum of seven years in prison because the alleged illegal gains exceed NT$100 million.
Founded in 2007, Addcn also operates 591.com for online housing trading, 8891.com for used car trading and 101.com for apparel retailing.
In the April-to-June quarter, the company reported sales of NT$283 million, an increase of 20 percent year-on-year, and a net income of NT$135 million, up 47 percent annually, as it saw an increasing number of transactions on its virtual platforms.
With aggressive promotional campaigns, the company had more than 4 million members by the end of the second quarter.
Addcn shares rose 0.13 percent to close at NT$392.5 yesterday in Taipei trading before the UBN reports emerged.
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