Seven people who were arrested on June 13 last year for allegedly operating a fraudulent cryptocurrency investment scheme were yesterday charged with breaching multiple banking and business-related laws, prosecutors said.
The scheme promised investors returns of up to 355 percent after a year of investment, prosecutors said, adding that it would have been illegal even if it proved successful.
However, most investors did not see any returns after February last year and returns stopped altogether after April 24, they said.
A 47-year-old man surnamed Lin (林) established an office in Taichung’s West District (西區) to attract investors from Taiwan and China, the indictment filed by the Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office said.
Lin attracted investment from the Chinese cities of Fuzhou, Shanghai and Wuxi, as well as Pingtan County in Fujian Province, the indictment said.
Since October 2016, the group has attracted about US$51 million of investments, the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau said in June last year, adding that more than 1,000 Taiwanese have been defrauded.
After examining witness testimony, bank accounts and other evidence, Lin and six accomplices were charged with contravening the Banking Act (銀行法) and the Multi-Level Marketing Supervision Act (多層次傳銷管理法), prosecutors said.
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